i-IBRARY  OF  PRINCETON 

OCT  0  3  :^:r 

THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


PASTORAL  THEOLOGY 

JUL  :^n  1914 

By  JAMES   M.    HOPPIN,  D.D. 

PROFESSOR   OF   THE    HISTORY   OF   ART,    AND    LATE    OF   HOMILETICS   AND 
PASTORAL   THEOLOGY,    IN    YALE    COLLEGE 


"//  esf,  parmi  les  hornmes,  le  reprhentant  d'une  pensie  de  misSricorde  et 
il  la  represente  en  la  transportant  dans  sa  propre  vie.  Seco7irir,  c'est  son 
minisfere,  c'est  sa  vie." — Alexandre  vinet. 


FUNK    &   WAG  N  ALLS 

NEW  YORK  1884  LONDON 

10  AND  12  Dfy  Street  44  Fleet  Street 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1884, 

By  FUNK  &  WAGNALLS, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


PREFACE. 


Christian  theology  has  ever  presented  a  strong  front 
to  its  foes  ;  it  has  changed  front,  so  to  speak,  as  the 
emergencies  of  the  conflict  have  varied,  bringing  into 
view  the  dogmatic  side  of  truth  in  the  age  of  the  Nicene 
Creed  and  that  of  the  Reformation,  and  the  critical  and 
apologetic  in  the  controversies  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  those  of  the  present  day  under  the  assault  of  the 
rationalistic  philosophies  ;  it  is,  itself,  as  instanced  by 
Schleiermacher  and  Neander,  profoundly  philosophical, 
seeking  reasons  for  the  knowledge  of  divine  things,  and 
also,  in  times  of  nobler  faith,  mystical  ;  but  through  every 
age,  however  scientific  or  unscientific,  there  is  to  be  seen 
beneath  all  forms  one  spirit,  showing  that  the  teachings 
of  the  Spirit  are  identical,  and  that  in  them  is  the  same 
practical  element— that  of  righteousness.  Whatever  may 
be  the  speculations  of  thinkers  upon  ideal  truth,  from 
Anselm  to  Bushnell,  it  is  always  right  to  be  and  to  do 
good — to  strive  after  the  pure  life  of  God  in  the  soul. 
The  gospel  is  the  energy  of  goodness,  the  expression  of 
infinite  love,  the  holy  life  of  self-sacrifice  in  imitation  of 
Christ's  sacrifice.  The  best  modern  spirit  of  theology 
recognizes  the  essential  character  of  the  gospel  to  be  the 
manifestation  of  a  personal  Saviour  in  humanity,  who 
draws  men  to  Himself  by  His  love,  and  implants  in  them 
a  new  principle  of  goodness.      Christianity  is  the  divine 


IV  FREE  A  CE. 

spirit  of  goodness  incarnate.  This  spiritual  religion  is  a 
revival  of  apostolic  faith,  and  the  need  of  the  present  day 
is  not  a  new  theology  so  much  as  a  new  religion — more 
truly  evangelic  and  filled  with  new  spiritual  life.  The 
Church  easily  loses  the  consciousness  of  its  high  mission, 
but  the  Church,  above  all,  is  the  sphere  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  good  activities,  who  is  called  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
the  Spirit  of  Truth. 

Pastoral  theology,  of  which  the  present  book  treats, 
ranges  itself  under  this  practical — this  invariable  aspect  of 
divine  truth  ;  it  draws  its  life  directly  from  the  Bible 
and  from  the  life  and  will  of  Christ. 

It  is  earnestly  hoped  that  the  work  may  be  useful  in 
contributing  to  the  practical  and  spiritual  tone  of  the 
ministry.  The  pastor  should  not  be  a  superficial  man  or 
superficially  acquainted  with  the  wants  of  his  flock  ;  but 
by  studying  his  people  with  that  loving  and  comprehen- 
sive insight  given  by  the  Spirit,  he  should  seek  that  they 
be  thoroughly  perfected  in  Christ. 

The  pastoral  spirit,  being  that  of  direction  and  guid- 
ance, is  the  deepest  of  all,  and  forms  the  starting-point  of 
every  good  influence,  so  that  the  life  of  the  pastor  should 
be  identical  with  the  will  of  Christ.  This  is  the  con- 
dition of  its  existence.  The  holy  glow  that  once  sur- 
rounded the  ofiice  of  pastor,  the  divinity  that  hedged  it 
about  with  reverence  and  awe,  has  almost  vanished 
away,  and  his  power  is  now  in  his  character,  his  Christ- 
likeness  ;  and  this,  perhaps,  is  as  it  should  be,  for  the 
pastoral  character  reacts  upon  the  ofifice,  and  thus  the 
right  conception  of  it  must  at  length  be  attained. 

This  volume  comprises,  substantially,  a  course  of  lect- 
ures given  to  classes  of  theological  students,  and  it  forms 
a  companion  volume  to  a  work  by  the  author  on  "  Hom- 
iletics,"  published  in  1881,  fulfilling  the  promise  made  in 


rKEFA  CE.  V 

the  preface  of  that  book  ;  and  I  would  desire  that  the 
two  books  should  go  together,  and  that  one  of  them 
(contrary  to  what  was  said  in  the  preface)  should  not  be 
considered  complete  without  the  other. 

My  endeavor  has  been  to  make  such  a  book  as  I  would 
wish  to  have  had  when  a  theological  student  and  young- 
pastor— one  that  would  be  of  real  aid  in  the  studies,  in- 
quiries, trials,  and  mental  and  moral  preparation  for  the 
strenuous  work  of  the  ministry.  I  have  tried  also  to  set 
forth  the  sympathy,  the  wondrous  pitifulness  of  the 
Christian  religion  as  exemplified  in  the  pastor  who  repre- 
sents his  divine  Master  on  earth,  and  who  is  no  mere 
theorist,  but  an  untiring  good  worker,  a  loving  and  cour- 
ageous helper  of  humanity. 

The  real  needs  of  the  day  and  land  in  which  he  lives 
are  the  needs  which  the  pastor  is  to  supply,  if  he  obeys 
the  command  to  "  feed  the  flock  of  God  which  is  among  j 
you."  I  have  striven  especially  to  bring  out  this  effec- 
tively practical  element  of  the  pastor's  character,  like  the 
character  of  Christ.  He  is  not  appointed  to  administer 
to  abstract  evil.  The  actual  form  of  evil  which  presents 
itself  in  the  community  where  he  dwells  indicates  the 
error  at  work  in  the  spiritual  consciousness  of  men,  and 
this  is  the  evil  to  be  sought  and  remedied.  He  must 
understand  his  time.  Vice  itself  wears  the  fashion  of  the 
day,  and  mocks  the  beauty  of  its  higher  culture,  conceal- 
ing its  deformity  under  the  charms  of  a  more  exquisite 
civilization.  A  keen  and  trained  intelligence,  touched  by 
the  spirit  of  divine  love,  is  demanded  for  the  pastoral 
work  of  our  age  and  land.  Alas  !  if  the  minister  of 
Christ  and  of  light  goes  through  life  missing  every  oppor- 
tunity of  doing  good  to  men  from  not  knowing  their  real 
wants.  The  pastor  of  souls  should  know  men  and  what 
thev  talk  and  think  about.      In  our  best  communities  arc 


VI  PRE  FA  CE. 

to  be  found  Americans  by  birth  and  education  who  are 
professed  Buddhists  ;  there  are  Mormons  ;  there  are 
SociaHsts  and  free  Communists,  who  are  working  for  the 
abohtion  of  the  laws  of  a  Christian  civihzation  ;  there  are 
men  tired  of  hfe,  because  they  have  never  truly  lived  ; 
there  are  men  eaten  up  with  the  love  of  money,  and  who 
know  no  other  religion  ;  there  are  materialists  who  deny 
all  supernatural  truth,  in  every  grade  from  the  disciples 
of  the  most  pessimistic  school  to  the  purely  scientific 
worshippers  of  primitive  force  in  the  physical  universe  ; 
there  are  idealists,  who  are  derived  from  the  lofty-minded 
Spinoza  and  the  German  philosophies,  and  there  are 
those  who  are  led  by  the  more  logical  reasonings  of  the 
modern  English  school  of  sceptical  philosophy  ;  there 
are  those  who  believe  nothing  and  hope  nothing  ;  there 
are  those  who  wander  in  search  of  their  lost  in  the  realm 
of  ghosts,  like  Odysseus  in  the  shades  of  the  lower  world. 
These  ideas,  the  most  philosophical,  many  of  them  truly 
so,  have  become  popularized,  and  are  the  active  forces  of 
the  day.  They  turn  men  from  the  true  light.  They  are 
mingled  with  scientific  truth  wrested  from  its  proper 
basis.  They  pervade  society,  they  influence  ourselves, 
and  they  influence  the  men  and  women  (though  perhaps 
we  da  not  know  it)  with  whom  we  ourselves  come  in  con- 
stant contact.  These  are  men  and  women  often  of  the 
most  truth-loving  and  beautiful  characters.  They  are  to 
be  loved  and  spiritually  aided,  although  they  do  not  ac- 
cept Christ  in  any  of  His  relations  to  humanity  ;  and  he 
who  thus  loves  his  fellow-men  and  consecrates  all  his  pow- 
ers purely  to  the  work  of  saving  souls  in  the  kingdom  of 
God's  eternal  righteousness  and  peace,  deserves  recogni- 
tion and  a  high  place  of  honor  in  our  hearts,  as  the  Script- 
ures exhort    "  to  know   them   which   labor  among  you, 


PREFACE.  Vll 

and  are  over  you  in  the  Lord,  and  admonish  you  ;  and 
to  esteem  them  very  highly  in  love  for  their  work's  sake." 

What  is  said  in  these  lectures  is  a  candid  though  brief 
expression  of  the  author's  views,  echoing  no  other's 
opinions,  so  that  he  compromises  no  one  but  himself  ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  he  has  sought,  as  far  as  possible, 
the  concurrence  of  all  the  true  voices  of  the  Church  and  of 
history.  He  has  claimed  the  widest  liberty,  believing  that 
important  subjects  are  only  to  be  profitably  discussed  in 
the  free  but  sincere  spirit  of  the  Broad  Church,  or  in  that 
condition  of  religious  thought  in  which,  while  the  unity 
of  the  spirit  is  maintained,  writers  are  allowed  the  utmost 
scope  of  investigation  and  ample  space  to  move  in.  He 
is  assured  that  on  many  mooted  points  the  book  will 
prove  too  high  for  some  and  too  low  for  others,  and  he 
begs  that  it  may  not  be  rejected  on  that  account,  when 
its  intention  to  help  young  men  in  the  rninistry  be  fairly 
recognized,  and  that  only  what  is  wrong  in  it  may  be 
cast  aside,  and  what  is  true  received.  It  aims  to  be 
Christian  and  not  sectarian.  No  one  denomination  or 
portion  of  the  Church  has  been  kept  exclusively  in  view, 
and  the  single  purpose  of  the  book  is  to  portray  the 
Christian  pastor  in  his  multiform  relations  as  the  friend 
and  guide  of  men,  to  set  forth  those  principles  which 
should  mould  and  direct  the  pastor  under  whatever  form 
or  name  of  the  Church  of  Christ  he  is  called  to  serve,  so 
that  he  may  possess  that  breadth  of  wisdom  and  love 
which  has  its  roots  beneath  all  distinctions,  and  be  in- 
spired by  the  apostolic  injunction  :  "  Only  let  your  con- 
versation be  as  it  becometh  the  gospel  of  Christ  .  .  . 
that  ye  stand  fast  in  one  spirit,  with  one  mind  striving 
together  for  the  faith  of  the  gospel." 

New  Haven,  Conn.,  October  i,  1884. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 


PACK 


Sec.   I.  Place  and  Literature  of  Pastoral  Theology i 

PART  FIRST. 
THE  PASTORAL  OFFICE. 

Sec.    2.  The  Pastoral  Office  Founded  in  Nature 13 

Sec.    3.   Divine  Institution  of  the  Pastoral  Office 23 

A7700TOAOf 28 

llpo(p?]Trig 36 

AvvafiEi^ 39 

Xapiafiara  ia/idru.' 43 

'AvTih'p(>£ig,  KvjiEpvJiatir 45 

E«a7ye?uoT7;f 46 

Iloi[iTjv 50 

Atddff/ca/lof 52 

YlpeajivTepoq 53 

—          '  ETTicr/corrof 55 

Other  Titles  of  the  Ministry 5g 

Sec.    4.   Idea  of  the  Pastoral  Office 62 

Sec.     5.  Model  of  the  Pastor 74 

Sec.    6.  Call  to  the  Ministry 81 

Sec.     7.   Ordination loi 

Sec.    8.  Trials  and  Rewards  of  the  Pastor no 


X  CONTENTS. 

PART  SECOND. 
THE  PASTOR  AS  A  MAN. 

PAGE 

Sec    9.  Spiritual  Qualifications. 126 

Sec.  10.  Intellectual  and  Scientific  Culture 146 

Sec.  II.  Moral  Culture 175 


PART  THIRD. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELATIONS  TO 
SOCIETY. 

Sec.  12.  Donniestic  Relations 187 

Sec.  13.  The  Pastor  in  Society 194 


PART   FOURTH. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELATIONS  TO 
PUBLIC  WORSHIP. 

Sec.  14.  Theory  and  Form  of  Public  Worship 224 

Liturgies 233 

Sec.  r5.  The  Lord's  Day 248 

Sec.  16.  The  Sanctuary 283 

Sec.  17.  Church    Music 305 

Sec.  18.  Preaching    321 

Sec.  19.  Conducting  a  Prayer-Meeting 344 

Sec.  20.  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper 354 

Sec.  21.  Marriage  and  Burial 382 


CONTENTS.  xi 

PART   FIFTH. 
THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  CARE  OF  SOULS. 

PAGE 

Sec.  22.  Qualifications  for  the  Care  of  Souls 387 

Sec.  23.   Pastoral  Visiting 402 

Sec.  24.  Care  of  the  Sick  and  the  Afflicted 420 

Sec.  25.  Treatment  of  Different  Classes 438 

The  Unbelieving  and  Impenitent 438^^ 

The  Inquirer 445 

The  Young  Convert 475 

Sec.  26.   Revivals  of  Religion 480 


PART   SIXTH. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELATIONS  TO 
THE  CHURCH. 

Sec.  27.   Church  Membership 513 

Church  Discipline 521 

Poimenics 528 

Sec.  28.  Christian  Nurture 531 

Catechetics 533 

Sec.  2g.   Benevolent  Activity  and  Almsgiving 535 

Sec.  30.  Missions 54^ 

Home  Evangelization 542 

Foreign  Missions 547 


PASTORAL  THEOLOGY. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Sec.  I.  Place  and  Literature  of  Pastoral  Theology. 

The  pastor  is  likened  in  the  Bible  to  an  Eastern  shep- 
herd tending  his  sheep  in  the  wilderness  or  on  the  moun- 
tain-side, \vhere  his  movements  are  as  free  as  the  things 
of  nature  by  which  he  is  surrounded  ;  he  watches  the 
flaming  sun  by  day  and  the  stars  by  night,  and  grows 
wise  by  communion  with  the  spirit  of  the  universe  ;  now 
he  darts  forth  to  find  and  rescue  a  wandering  sheep  ; 
now  he  leads  down  his  flock  into  the  green  pastures  and 
by  the  still  waters,  and  then  he  seeks  fresher  fields,  where 
the  springs  are  never  dry,  by  lofty  and  rugged  paths, 
encountering  perils  that  demand  a  strong  arm  and  brave 
heart  to  meet — and  what  shall  be  said  ?  Shall  we  put  this 
man  into  a  Church  livery,  and  give  him  a  Church  manual 
for  his  guide,  and  arm  him  with  a  policeman's  baton  in- 
stead of  his  rude,  crooked  staff,  and  order  him  when  he 
shall  get  up  or  lie  down,  when  he  shall  fold  his  flock  or 
lead  them  forth  with  merry  pipe  and  song  ? 

All  the  poetiy  and  usefulness  of  the  vocation  to  which 
his  divine  Master,  to  whom  he  is  mainly  responsible,  has 
called  him  would  be  spoiled  by  thus  turning  the  free 
mountain  shepherd,  the  child  of  nature  and  God,  into  an 


2  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ecclesiastical  machine  governed  by  exact  rules  ;  it  were 
indeed  an  impracticable  and  thankless  task. 

Pastoral  Theology,  though  forming  a  vital  and  organic 
part  of  the  science  of  Qiristian  Theology,  is  a  theme 
evasive  of  analysis  and  thus  somewhat  difficult  to  treat, 
having  regard  as  it  does  to  relations  which  are  almost 
wholly  spiritual  and  personal,  and  whose  roots  are  deep 
in  the  affections.  As  well  might  one  try  to  construct  a 
philosophy  for  the  economy  of  a  household  and  the 
affectionate  and  moral  (the  Germans  have  a  better  word, 
"  sittiich")  relations  of  parents  and  children,  as  to  make 
a  science  of  those  fine  relations  of  a  Christian  pastor  to 
his  flock  which  constitute  the  most  profound  and  spirit- 
ual of  human  ties. 

Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  intensely  practical  nature 
of  the  subject  and  its  multifarious  richness  of  applica- 
tion to  the  innumerable  wants  and  changing  circum- 
stances of  life  and  of  the  life  of  the  Christian  Church, 
regarding  pastors  as  "  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of 
God."  While  the  essentially  practical  department  of 
Homiletics  may  be  treated  in  a  scientific  way,  though  it 
also  is  apt  to  be  injured  by  applying  critical  analysis  too 
narrowly,  for  "  the  word  of  God  is  not  bound,"  and,  in 
fact,  preaching  is  so  intimately  connected  with  the  pas- 
toral work,  both  of  them  having  for  their  aim  the  build- 
ing up  of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  the  world,  that  they 
are  but  different  sides  of  the  same  work — yet  the  teacher 
of  Pastoral  Theology  is  apparently  much  less  advanta- 
geously placed  than  teachers  in  the  other  departments 
of  theological  education.  The  lecturer  on  Systematic 
Theology,  let  him  enter  his  subject  where  he  may,  cannot 
fail  to  make  his  way  to  a  central  truth,  from  which  he 
begins  to  open  the  discussion  around  him  in  the  logical 
evolution  of  thought  ;  the  lecturer  upon  Church  History, 


INTRODUCTION.  3 

however  he  may  dwell  upon  the  philosophy  of  history 
and  search  after  the  creative  idea  which  is  to  conduct  him 
through  the  immense  field  of  historic  investigation,  must 
at  length  be  content  to  move  on,  following  the  resistless 
track  of  a  divine  law  of  development,  and  acting  as  an  in- 
terpreter to  a  higher  series  of  facts.  The  Exegetical  in- 
structor, having  ever  so  carefully  laid  down  his  principles 
of  interpretation,  has  his  lesson  before  him,  and  a  sure 
if  not  always  plain  road  marked  out  for  him  ;  in  like 
manner  the  teacher  of  Christian  Ethics  must  himself  draw 
out  from  the  Scriptures  in  some  ordered  plan  whatever 
they  contain  of  the  principles  of  moral  duty  and  their 
reference  to  human  conduct  ;  but  where  shall  the 
teacher  of  Pastoral  Theology  begin  ?  Instead  of  a  deter- 
minate path,  a  wide  and  in  some  respects  vague  field  lies 
before  him.  Can  his  theme  be  considered  a  science  ? 
Is  it  not  rather  an  art  than  a  science  ?  A 
science  is  the  development  of  those  abstract      Pastoral 

principles  or  recognized  laws  upon  which  any       ^°  °^^  ^" 

art  rather 
particular   department   of   knowledge   rests  ;        ,. 

hence  there  is  something  determinately  pro-  science, 
gressive  In  it — a  philosophic  even  if  occult 
evolution  of  ideas  ;  but  what  purely  scientific  method 
can  be  applied  to  Pastoral  Theology  ?  It  is  free,  and  sub- 
ject to  circumstance  and  personal  wisdom  and  will,  and 
above  all,  the  divine  will.  "It  is,"  says  Vinet,  "art 
which  supposes  science,  or  science  resolving  itself  into 
art;"'  but  art,  strictly  speaking,  is  the  opposite  of 
science  ;  science  refers  to  the  principles  of  things — their 
speculative  and  absolute  groundwork  ;  while  art  refers  to 
the  disposition,  modification,  and  external  use  of  princi- 
ples for  a  certain  end,  and  this  describes  the  connection 

1   "  Pas.  Theol.."  §  i. 


scheme  of 
theol.  edu- 


4  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

that  Pastoral  Theology  bears  to  science,  or,  more  truly, 
to  the  science  of  theology  ;  it  is  the  art  of  applying  truth 
— call  it  scientific  truth — to  vital  ends  ;  it  partakes  more 
of  an  art  than  of  a  science,  but  it  rests  back  on  a  ground- 
work of  truth  ;  it  is  chiefly  concerned  in  carrying  into 
life  and  practice  those  fundamental  truths  which  are 
taught  in  the  Scriptures  and  In  any  true  and  comprehen- 
sive system  of  theological  education.  This  may  be  bet- 
ter seen  if  we  lay  down  even  the  briefest  methodized 
scheme  of  a  course  of  theological  instruction. 

A  course  of  theological  study  is  commonly  divided  into 
a  fourfold  classification — ^viz.,  Exegetic,  Systematic,  His- 
toric, and  Practical,  (i)  Exegetic  Theology 
Place  of  Pas.  jncludes  ((i:)  Historic  Criticism  of  the  Books 
eo  .  in  a  ^^  Scripture  ;  {U)  Biblical  Hermeneutics,  or 
the  laws  of  scriptural  interpretation  ;  (f) 
cation.  Biblical  Exegesis,  or  the  actual  interpretation 
of  Scripture.  (2)  Systematic  Theology  in- 
cludes {a)  Dogmatic  Theology,  or  the  discussion  of  the 
principles  of  faith  ;  {U)  Moral  Theology,  or  Christian 
Ethics.  (3)  Historic  Theology  includes  {a)  the  History  of 
Christian  Doctrines  ;  {U)  Symbolic  Theology  ;  {c)  Archas- 
ology  ;  {d)  Theological  Literature.  (4)  Practical  Theol- 
ogy includes  [a)  Church  Polity  ;  {b)  Catechetics  ;  (r) 
Liturgies,  or  the  Theory  of  Worship  ;  {d)  Homiletics  ;  {e) 
Pastoral  Theology. 

Pastoral  Theology,  under  this  classification,  is  a  branch 
of  Practical  Theology,  and  includes  the  more  personal 
and  ofificial  relations  of  the  pastor  to  the  church  and  to 
the  people  of  his  charge. 

This  department,  in  our  theological  training,  has  been 
crowded  into  a  small  space  ;  it  has  been,  in  fact,  almost 
entirely  neglected.  Never  can  the  writer  forget  his  own 
lack  of  preparation,  and  his  entire  inability  to  meet  the 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

practical  and  urgent  duties  of  the  pastoral  office  put  to 
the  test  the  first  time  that  a  mind  awakened  from  its 
sleep  and  trembling  under  the  searchings  of  spiritual 
truth  sought  his  counsel  ;  not  a  hint  had  he  received  in 
the  theological  school  by  way  of  practical  instruction  as 
to  the  methods  of  treating  such  a  mind. 

This  pastoral  skill,  you  say,  cannot  be  taught,  can- 
not be  mapped  on  the  charts  of  the  eternal  world, 
and  comes  through  the  finer  lessons  of  experience  ; 
but  we  do  not  altogether  admit  this.  Something 
may  be  done  in  the  normal  school  of  theological  edu- 
cation to  inform  the  young  pastor  as  to  the  real  duties 
of  his  work,  to  forewarn  of  its  difificulties,  and  to  fore- 
arm for  its  glorious  warfare  ;  and  from  its  practical 
importance  and  its  wide  scope  of  interest  this  is  a  de- 
partment of  theology,  or  more  truly  of  ministerial  train- 
ing, in  which  the  great  apostle  of  humanity,  with  his 
unequalled  combination  of  tact,  sympathy,  and  zeal,  or 
the  beloved  disciple  who  leaned  on  Jesus'  breast  and 
drew  thence  the  pure  pastoral  spirit  of  blended  wisdom 
and  love,  would  have  delighted  to  employ  their  powers. 

In  regard  to  the  literature  of   Pastoral  Theology  it  is 
not  necessary  for  us  to  go  over  this  wide  and   somewhat 
monotonous  field.     Its  most  compact,  acces- 
sible, and  familiar  works  are  among  the  best.     ^  ^^^  ^^^  ° 

T-i         •         •       1  Pastoral  The- 
We    name    a    few    of  them.       Ihe    mspired        oloev 

springs  are  the  richest.  As  the  ofifice  of  the 
pastor  de  origine  is  divine,  is  imaged  on  the  relation  of 
the  Divine  Shepherd  to  his  flock,  of  the  Almighty 
Father  to  men,  his  children,  we  find  the  head-sources  of 
authority  and  instruction  upon  this  theme — the  commis- 
sion, the  principles  of  action,  the  entire  work  and  life  of 
the  Christian  pastor — comprehended  in  the  Scriptures. 
In  the  Old  Testament  the  germs  of  the  pastoral  idea 


6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

begin  to  manifest  themselves  in  the  early  offices  of  the 
The  "priest"    and    the     "prophet."        It  is  de- 

Scriptures,  clared  (Jer.  3  :  15)  :  "I  will  give  you  pas- 
tors according  to  mine  heart,  which  shall  feed  you  with 
knowledge  and  understanding  ;"  and  every  Old  Testa- 
ment interpreter  of  the  law  of  righteousness  to  whom 
was  given  the  staff  of  leadership,  and  who  spoke  words 
that  in  cloudy  symbol  or  clear  precept  proclaimed  the 
divine  will  to  men,  is  a  teacher  in  that  "wisdom" 
which  represents  the  spiritual  guidance  vouchsafed  to  the 
people  of  God. 

But  in  the  New  Testament  of  "the  Lord  our  right- 
eousness" the  most  perfect  image  of  the  pastor  is  revealed 
in  Christ.  The  study  of  the  Gospels,  or  the  life  of  Jesus, 
from  a  purely  pastoral  point  of  view,  has  a  deepening 
and  establishing  influence  ;  for  many  of  our  Lord's 
words,  as  in  the  sending  forth  of  the  apostles  and  at  the 
Last  Supper,  were  especially  addressed  to  his  disciples 
as  future  spiritual  guides  and  pastors.  The  same  spirit 
is  to  be  evoked  that  was  then  evoked  to  enable  men  to 
become  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament,  not  of  the 
letter  which  killeth,  but  of  the  spirit  which  makes  alive. 
The  Pastoral  Epistles,  written  as  they  were  primarily  to 
young  ministers  by  an  aged  minister  who  had  made 
"  full  proof  of  the  ministry,"  and  who  was  appointed  by 
Christ  to  plant  and  organize  the  universal  Church — these 
form  the  most  full  and  systematic  inspired  source  of  the 
nature  of  the  pastoral  authority,  and  of  the  duties  and 
qualifications  of  the  Christian  pastor  ;  they  are  his  pan- 
dects and  constitution  ;  they  present  a  whole  theological 
seminary  or  seed-plot  of  heavenly  instruction  and  guid- 
ance, that,  if  closely  studied,  need  not  to  be  supple- 
mented by  human  precepts.  They  set  forth  both  the 
doctrine  and  the  life,  for  they  come  through  the  teach- 


IN  TROD  UC  TION.  7 

ings  of  that  Spirit  who  is  himself  "  the  Bishop  and 
Shepherd  of  our  souls."  The  real  greatness  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  preacher  of  the  "  gospel  of  the  blessed 
God,"  the  end  of  whose  labor  is  "  charity"  and  "  faith 
unfeigned,"  as  given  us  in  these  epistles,  may  be  well 
contrasted  with  false  human  ideas  of  the  work  of  the 
ministry,  whether  they  look  to  intellectual  display  or 
hierarchical  ambition. 

Of  works  on  Pastoral  Theology,  the  most  satisfactory 
and  the  most  complete  in  itself,  is  "  Pastoral  Theology 
or  the  Theory  of   the   Evangelical  Ministry" 

(*'  Theolofjie  Pastorale,  ou  Theorie  du  Min-    _,      , 

^  °  Theology. 

istre  Evangelique"),  by  Alexandre  Vinet. 
This  book  treats  the  subject  in  as  philosophical  a  method  as 
it  is  capable  of  being  treated,  and  for  a  European  author 
it  is  inspired  by  an  extraordinary  spirit  of  Christian  free- 
dom. It  glows  with  an  elevated  sentiment  which  seems 
caught  from  the  Alpine  mountains,  by  whose  side  the 
author  lived.  Like  John  Foster,  with  whom  Vinet  has 
been  compared,  his  thought  is  often  obscure  from  its 
depth  ;  it  is,  however,  from  this  circumstance  none  the 
less  suggestive.  He  follows  the  pastoral  office  to  its 
beginnings  in  the  infinite  thought  of  God,  proving  the 
divine  reason  to  be  beautifully  manifested  in  its  institu- 
tion, and  showing  the  love  and  wisdom  of  Christ,  the 
chief  Shepherd,  in  the  ministry  which  he  appointed. 
Vinet  is  wonderfully  clear  and  rich  in  this  portion  of  the 
subject — the  institution  and  the  ideal  of  the  Christian 
ministry — and  in  the  purely  subjective  portraiture  of  the 
pastor  ;  but  on  the  more  practical  qualifications  and  duties 
of  the  pastor  there  is  a  deficiency  in  Vinet's  work.  This 
doubtless  arises  from  the  fact  of  Vinet's  situation  and  his 
residence  in  the  bosom  of  the  pure  and  devoted  but 
rigidly  hemmed-in  Swiss  Reformed  Church,   and  of  an 


8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Old  World  civilization.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  pastoral  office  itself,  in  a  free  country  like  ours,  has 
assumed  nobler  proportions  than  those  in  which  Vinet 
was  ever  accustomed  to  see  it  exhibit  itself,  and  that 
here  we  may  hope  that  its  highest  ideals  shall  be  more 
and  more  fully  realized. 

"  A  Discourse  of  the  Pastoral  Care,"  by  Bishop  Burnet, 
though    an    old    and    quaint    work,    is    singularly    com- 
^  Burnet  on  the  P^^^^^"*^^^^'    '^"^   stands    its    ground    to   this 
Pastoral      day.      Prelatic  in  tone,  its  scope  and  aim  rise 
Care.        above    ecclesiastical    distinctions,     and    rest 
upon  solid  principles.      It  leaves  a  strong  impression  of  the 
divinely  instituted  authority  and  intrinsic  dignity  of  the 
ministry,  and  it  heightens  the  sense  of  ministerial  obliga- 
tions.     It  is  animated   in   style,  and   is   sometimes,    like 
Burnet's  other  writings,  weighty. 

"  A   Priest   to   the   Temple,    or  the  Country  Parson's 

Character  and   Rule  of   Holy  Life"    (1632),    by  George 

Herbert,  is   another  book  that  is  true  gold. 

^  Herberts     j^  j^  the  portrait  of  George  Herbert,  done  by 

country  ,  r       r  1  1  /-1     •     • 

himself,  of  a  pure-hearted  Christian  minister, 
parson.  '  ^ 

and  noble  Christian  gentleman.  The  High- 
Churchism  of  Herbert  was  the  poetry  rather  than  the 
substance  of  the  man,  which  was  spiritually  sound.  His 
book  breathes  the  humble  spirit  of  the  man  who,  leaving 
the  highest  walks  of  rank  and  literature,  preached  to  the 
illiterate  congregation  of  Bemerton  Chapel.  The  young 
pastor  who  wishes  to  cultivate  humble  piety,  to  learn 
cheerful  self-denial,  to  acquire  genial  and  practical  wisdom 
in  dealing  with  common  men,  and  to  invigorate  his  Eng- 
lish style,  would  do  well  to  make  a  constant  companion  of 
"  The  Country  Parson."  Herbert  says  of  students  for  the 
ministry,  "  their  aim  and  labor  must  be  not  only  to  get 
knowledge,   but  to    subdue    and   mortify  all  lusts    and 


IN  TR  on  UC  TION.  9 

affections  ;  and  not  to  think  that,  when  they  have  read 
the  fathers  or  schoolmen,  a  minister  is  made  and  the 
thing  is  done.  TJie  greatest  and  hardest  preparation  is 
within."  In  another  place  he  says  :  "  The  parson's  yea 
is  yea,  and  nay  nay  ;  and  his  apparel  plain,  but  rever- 
end and  clean,  without  spots  or  dust  ;  the  purity  of 
his  mind  breaking  out  and  dilating  itself  even  to  his  body, 
clothes,  and  habitation."  Again  :  "  The  country  parson 
is  full  of  all  knowledge.  They  say  it  is  an  ill  mason  that 
refuseth  any  stone  ;  and  there  is  no  knowledge  but,  in  a 
skilful  hand,  serves  either  positively  as  it  is,  or  else  to 
illustrate  some  other  knowledge.  He  condescends  even 
to  the  knowledge  of  tillage  and  pasturage,  and  makes 
great  use  of  them  in  teaching  ;  because  people  by  what 
they  understand  are  best  led  to  what  they  understand 
not."  Yet  again  :  "  He  is  not  witty  or  learned  or 
eloquent,  but  holy — a  character  that  Hermogenes  never 
dreamed  of,  and  therefore  he  could  give  no  precepts 
thereof.  But  it  is  gained  first  by  choosing  texts  of  devo- 
tion, not  controversy  ;  moving  and  ravishing  texts 
whereof  the  Scriptures  are  full.  Secondly,  by  dipping  and 
seasoning  all  our  words  and  sentences  in  our  hearts  be- 
fore they  come  into  our  mouths  ;  truly  affecting  and 
cordially  expressing  all  that  we  say  ;  so  that  the  auditors 
may  plainly  perceive  that  every  word  is  heart  deep." 
This  last  sentence  is  the  key  of  the  book.  Herbert 
agrees  with  Neander,  "pectus  est  quod  tJieologiim  facit ;" 
and  with  John,  who  looked  upon  his  hearers  as  his  chil- 
dren in  Christ,  He  says,  "  The  parson  is  full  of  charity  ; 
it  is  his  predominant  element." 

Baxter's  "  Reformed  Pastor"  sets  forth  a  high  idea  of 
the  Puritan  minister.  It  is  salt,  sparkling  and  pungent. 
No  book  can  be  more  quickening  to  the  ministerial 
conscience,   and   sometimes   it   is  tremendous  in  solemn 


PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 


earnestness.      But    while    it    overruns    with    energy  and 

holy  enthusiasm,   its  tone  is  too  exacerbat- 

Baxters      jng  and  intense,   and  it  leaves  too  little  re- 
reformed  .        ,  .  .        ™,  .         . 

pose   for  the  spirit.      i  he  passive  virtues  are 
pastor.         i  r  r 

not  sufficiently  recognized.  The  spirit  of 
Christian  joy  and  the  encouraging  views  of  the  ever- 
present  love  and  assistance  of  Christ  do  not  pervade  and 
inspire  the  book.  This  was  doubtless  somewhat  owing 
to  the  excited  and  polemical  state  of  the  theology  of 
Baxter's  day  ;  but  it  is  nevertheless  a  noble  book,  and 
leads  the  minister  to  stand  fully  in  the  eye  of  God.  It  is 
a  corrective  to  all  low  and  superficial  ideas  of  ministerial 
character,  and  repeats  in  startling  clearness,  "  if  any  man 
will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and  take  up  his 
cross  and  follow  me." 

Bridge's  "  Christian  Ministry"  is  a  book  that  has  little 
originality,  but   is   a   useful   compilation  ;    and  there    are 

other  less  complete  works,  some  of  them  of 

Other  -.1.1  •  i.1  • 

ancient  date  and  more  curious  than   impor- 

works. 

tant,    among    which    might    be    mentioned 

Bowles's  "  Pastor  Evangelicus,"  written  by  an  English 
clergyman  originally  in  Latin,  1649  ;  Cotton  Mather's 
"  Student  and  Pastor,"  characterized  by  this  author's 
quaintness  and  pedantry;  Scougal's  "Sermon  on  the 
Importance  and  Difficulties  of  the  Ministerial  Func- 
tion ;"  Archbishop  Seeker's  "  Charges  ;"  Bishop  Taylor's 
"  Clergyman's  Instructor  ;"  Fletcher  of  Madely's  "  Por- 
trait of  St.  Paul  ;"  Robert  Hall's  "  Discourse  on  the 
Discouragements  and  Supports  of  the  Ministry  ;"  Hum- 
phrey's "  Letters  to  a  Son  in  the  Ministry  ;"  Oxenden's 
"  Pastoral  Office  ;"  Bruce's  "  Training  of  the  Twelve  ;" 
Kidder's  "  Christian  Pastorate  ;"  Shedd's  "  Homiletics 
and  Pastoral  Theology. "  To  these  might  be  added  such 
suggestive   and   practical  works  as   Spencer's    "  Pastor's 


IN  TROD  UCTION.  I  r 

Sketches  ;"  Wayland's  "  Ministry  of  the  Gospel  ;" 
Mullois'  "  The  Clergy  and  Pulpit  ;"  Park's  "  Life  of 
Emmons  ;"  Stanley's  "  Life  of  Dr.  Arnold  ;"  Stopford 
Brooke's  "  Life  of  F.  W.  Robertson  ;"  Conybeare  and 
Howson's  "  Life  of  St.  Paul,"  and  Neander's  "  Life  of 
Chrysostom." 

In  the  French  language,  after  having  mentioned  Vinet 
and   Mullois,  the   most   noted   is   Massillon's 

Frcncli 

"  Discours  sur  la  Vocation  a  1  etat  Ecclesias- 

V70rks. 

tique. " 

Of  German  authors  the  following  might  be  noticed  as 

among    the    most    useful   and    practical  :  Glaus   Harms's 

"  Pastoral  Theologie  ;"   Bengel's  "  Pastoral 

Grundsaetze  ;"  Schleiermacher's  "  Praktische 

■works. 

Theologie,"  especially  the  two  chapters  upon 
Pastoral  Theology  ;  Reinhard's  "  Letters  upon  the  Stud- 
ies and  Life  of  the  Preacher  ;"  Nitzsch's  "  Praktische 
Theologie  ;"  Huffel's  "  Das  Wesen  und  der  Beruf  des 
Evangelisch-Christlichen  Geistlichen  ;"  Graffe's  "  Die 
Pastoral  Theologie  in  ihrem  ganzen  Umfange  ;"  Kaiser's 
"  Sketch  of  a  System  of  Pastoral  Theology  ;"  Roster's 
"  Manual  of  Pastoral  Science;"  Strauss's  "  Glockentone;" 
C.  Palmer's  "Handbuch  Pas.  Theol.  ;"  Dr.  Wilhelm  Otto's 

Evangelische  Praktische  Theologie  ;"  to  which  might 
be  added  Van  Oosterzee's  "  Practical  Theology,"  which 
is  especially  rich  in  the  department  of  Poimenics.  Con- 
rad Porta's  "  Pastorale  Lutheri,"  and  all  of  Luther's 
works  and  words  are  mines  of  practical  wisdom  and  sug- 
gestion ;  and  if  the  theological  student  would  imbue  his 
mind  with  the  regally  truthful  and  bravely  confessing 
spirit  of  Luther,  he  would  be,  like  him,  even  in  these 
dull  days,  a  reformer  of  the  Church  of  God. 

Of  the  more  ancient  works  in  this  department  the 
principal    are    Chrysostom's   TlfpJ    lEpoffvvj]?   and    Pope 


12  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Gregory's  "Liber  Regulse  Pastoralis,"  the  last  of  which 
is  remarkable  for  its  vigorous  setting  forth  of 

rysos  om  ^^^^  discriminating  wisdom  or  "prudence" 
and  Gregory.  °  .  .        ,      , . 

which    the  pastor  requires    m    dealmg  with 

men.      King    Alfred     translated    it     into    Anglo-Saxon. 
Chrysostom,  in  his  work,  contends  that  the  pastor  must 
be  a  holier  man  than  the  monk,  or  than  ordinary  Chris- 
tians, because  he  has  to  instruct   men  in  the  highest  or 
divine  truth,  and   that  in  composing  a  sermon  he  is  not 
to  look  to  the  praise  of  men,  but  to  God's  praise  only. 
The  writings  of  St.  Bernard   of  Clairvaux  and   of  St. 
Augustine     abound    in     pregnant     thoughts 
upon   the  duties  of  the   pastoral  office,   and 
thoughts  leading  to  its  higher  springs  of  power. 

After  noticing  these  (and  hundreds  of  others  might  be 
mentioned),  the  words  of  an  old  writer  still  hold  true, 
that  "  a  holy  pastor  has  but  three  books  to  study — the 
Scriptures,  himself,  and  his  flock." 


PART  FIRST. 

THE    PASTORAL   OFFICE 


Sec.  2.    The  Pastoral  Office  founded  in  Nature. 

Pastoral  Theology,  technically  speaking,  is  one 
branch  of  Practical  Theology,  and  it  includes  all  that. the 
other  departments  do  not  teach,  or  all  that 

remains   to  be    taught  in  the  education  of  definition  of 

Pastoral 
the  Christian    minister  ;    in   other  words,  it    Theoloev 

strictly  comprehends  those  methods  of  pas- 
toral labor  and  instruction  which  are  employed  out- 
side of  the  study  and  of  the  pulpit.  It  is  "a  function 
of  the  Christian  ministry  supplementary  to  the  preaching 
of  the  Word."  It  has  reference  to  all  extra-pulpit  ways 
and  means,  all  practical  efforts  and  agencies,  of  extend- 
ing the  Christian  faith  and  benefiting  the  souls  of  men. 

We  shall,  however,  take  a  still  more  comprehensive 
view  of  Pastoral  Theology,  and  shall  follow  in  part 
Vinet's  plan,  although  differing  from  it  in  important 
particulars  ;  indeed,  while  we  would  not  have  the  pre- 
sumption to  attempt  to  make  up  Vinet's  deficiencies, 
yet  we  would  endeavor  to  adapt  him,  in  many  practical 
respects,  to  the  wants  and  requirements  of  our  American 
ministry  ;  for,  in  a  country  like  ours,  where  the  Chris- 
tian faith  has  its  freest  and  fullest  development,  and  the 


J 


14  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

separation  of  Church  and  State  is  a  real,  not  theoretical, 
reform,  the  Christian  ministry  has  already  taken  on 
among  us  a  fairer  and  larger  type  than  it  has  ever  yet 
assumed,  or  can  assume,  amid  the  repressive  influences 
of  the  Old  World  civilization. 

Our  method  will  be,  from  the  discussion  of  the  office 
itself,  and  its  foundations  in  nature  and  Scripture,  or  the 
absolute  view  of  the  subject,  to  pass  on  to  the  actual 
embodiment  of  the  ministerial  ofifice  in  the  fit  personal 
instrument  ;  and  from  that  to  discuss  the  pastor's 
general  relations  to  society  and  the  world  around  him  ; 
and  then,  advancing  from  this  step,  to  come  to  his  more 
special,  profound,  and  enduring  work  in  the  care  of  souls, 
the  realm  of  spirit,  the  service  of  the  Church  of  God,  and 
the -extension  of  Christ's  eternal  kingdom. 

We  would,  before  proceeding  further,  clearly  disclaim 

the  attempt  to  make  factitious  distinction   between   the 

The  pastor    functions    of    the   pastor   and    those    of    the 

above  all     preacher,  as  if  the  two  constituted  separate 

a  preacher,  departments  of  the  ministry.  The  distinc- 
tion is,  at  most,  a  technical  one,  and  is  made  only  for 
the  sake  of  convenience.  The  two  are  essentially  one. 
The  pastor  is  above  all  the  preacher.  He  was  a  preacher 
before  he  was  a  pastor.  His  pastorate  would  be  an 
empty  form  were  he  not  a  preacher.  It  is  for  the  sake 
of  preaching  the  Word  of  God  more  effectually  that  he 
becomes  a  pastor.  It  is  to  carry  on  this  warfare  that  he 
takes  this  oflflce.  He  but  varies  his  methods  as  did  the 
Great  Teacher.  He  concentrates  his  work  upon  a  more 
specific  and  scientific  plan.  But  whether  in  private  or 
public,  in  the  upper  chamber  of  prayer  or  the  place  of 
great  assemblies,  by  the  wayside  or  within  the  domestic 
circle,  from  pulpit  to  pulpit  or  "  house  to  house,"  in  his 
every  contact  with   the   heart  of  humanity  he  sows  the 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  15 

seed  waiting  on  the  golden  opportunit}-.  This  is  not 
losing  sight  of  the  pastoral  office  itself,  which  is  a  real  and 
not  a  fictitious  one,  which  is  the  preacher's  authoritative 
standpoint,  which  is  the  application  of  his  labor  to  a 
particular  pastoral  field,  and  which  has  regard  to  the  re- 
ligious wants  of  a  specific  communion  and  to  the  admin- 
istration of  churchly  ordinances  to  a  circle  of  persons  and 
families  ecclesiastically  united  under  one  spiritual  leader- 
ship. The  pastoral  office  is  an  ecclesiastical  function, 
the  preaching  office  a  universal  duty.  Preaching  is  a 
duty  in  some  sense  obligatory  upon  every  Christian,  but 
the  pastoral  office  is  necessarily  confined  to  a  few.  It  is 
the  entire  consecration  of  some  to  the  work  of  caring  for 
the  religious  welfare  of  others,  and  especially  of  those 
who  are  officially  placed  under  their  immediate  spiritual 
charge.  If  we  deny  and  decry  the  reality  of  the  pastoral 
office,  we  cut  from  under  our  feet,  as  ministers  of  Christ, 
the  very  ground  upon  which  we  stand. 

In  treating  of  the  natural   foundations  of  the  pastoral 

office,  we  would  lay  down  the  principle — 

I.    It  is  an  axiom  of  philosophv  that  God  ^^*"'^^  ^°""- 

'  .      dations  of  pas. 

makes  his   first  and    fundamental  revelation  «, 

in  the  constitution  of  our  own  minds  ;  that 
there  is  an  innate  faculty  of  thought  and  a  moral  con- 
sciousness in  man  to  which  God  appeals,  by  awaken- 
ing in  him  the  feeling  of  religious  obligation  and  the 
desire  of  religious  knowledge  ;  for  to  know  truth,  and 
the  highest  truth — that  of  God — is  the  deepest  want  of 
the  mind.  There  is,  therefore,  we  reason,  an  a  priori 
element  in  man's  mind  ^vhich  makes  religious  sentiments 
and  religious  institutions  fit  and  natural  to  him.  No  in- 
stitution, we  may  safely  assert,  which  has  continued  for 
centuries,    and   which   is    of  a    universal    character,  and 


1 6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

which,  above   all,  is   an  institution   divinely   intended   to 

continue  to  the  end  of  time,  can  be  without  a  foundation 

in   nature  ;  there   must  be   some   universal  natural  want 

which  it  supplies,  or  some  essential  truth  which  it  stands 

for  ;  there   must   be    the   subjective   groundwork    in  the 

human  heart,  and  in  human  nature,  of  the   outward   fact 

in  society. 

2.   We    would,  then,  affirm   that  there  is  this  root   or 

basis  in  nature  itself,  of  the  pastoral  office  ; 

Proof  that    ^j-j^j  ^g  would  endeavor  to  prove  this  chiefly 

,/      P^"-  °^"  ^^  by  four  arguments  : 
^  founded  in  . 

(i)  As  every  universal  want  oi   humanity, 

where  there  is  a  capacity  to  supply  this  want, 
creates  an  office,  in  like  manner  the  most  universal  want 
of  man — that  of  religion — creates  the  office  of  religious 
instructor  ;  or  perhaps,  more  strictly,  we  should  say,  is 
.the  inevitable  occasion  for  the  creation  of  this  office. 
Thus  the  necessity  of  public  order  and  safety,  and  of  the 
limitation  of  individual  liberty  for  the  common  good, 
originates  the  office  of  civil  government.  Some  kind  of 
government,  more  or  less  elaborate,  exists  in  all  com- 
munities, even  the  most  degraded  ;  while  in  nations  of 
more  advanced  civilization  certain  men  are  devoted  to 
the  function  of  framing  and  administering  the  laws  ;  and 
the  more  exclusively  they  are  devoted  to  this  office,  the 
better  rulers  they  are.  In  the  judicial  department  of 
government,  especially,  we  are  apt  to  think  men  cannot 
be  too  rigorously  occupied  with  their  high  calling.  The 
more  important  the  government,  and  the  vaster  the  in- 
terests at  stake,  the  more  entirely  should  rulers  be  ab- 
sorbed in  the  duties  of  their  office.  As  another  illustra- 
tion of  this  general  principle,  the  natural  demand  for 
knowledge,  and  the  capacity  of  the  human  mind  to  in- 
vestigate and   enjoy  scientific  truth,  necessitate  the  ex- 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  17 

istence  of  a  class  of  public  educators.  The  office  of 
educator  is  a  universal  one.  In  the  semi-civilized  East, 
one  may  see  Arab  children  sitting  in  a  circle,  under  the 
shadow  of  some  old  Egyptian  temple,  undergoing  in- 
struction from  a  native  pedagogue  who  does  not  know 
that  the  world  goes  round  the  sun  ;  but  here  is  the  ex- 
clusive and  universal  ofifice  of  educator,  as  truly  as  if  the 
man  had  been  an  instructor  in  natural  science  in  a  Euro- 
pean university.  These  analogies  might  be  multiplied. 
The  world  thus  presents  the  spectacle  of  certain  recog- 
nized and  fixed  ofifices  among  men,  which  have  sprung 
from  the  general  wants  of  humanity  and  the  constitution 
of  the  mind  ;  and  with  how  much  greater  force  does  this 
principle  apply  to  the  office  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
which  is  not  to  supply  a  changing  but  a  fixed  necessity, 
not  a  temporal  but  an  eternal  want  !  The  underlying 
idea  of  religion,  which  is  our  need  of  God,  and  union 
with  God,  exists,  even  if  obscured,  in  all  minds,  enlight- 
ened and  heathen,  and  is  more  widespread  and  profound 
than  any  other.  Sin  only  deepens  it  ;  superstition  and 
idolatry  only  bring  it  out  in  a  more  intense  prominence  ; 
and  thus  we  find  in  this  natural  religious  instinct  the 
universal  demand  for  the  existence  of  a  class  of  men  who, 
by  the  gravity  of  their  lives  and  their  intelligence,  are 
supposed  to  be  capable  of  holding  more  intimate  com- 
munion with  God,  of  giving  expression  to  divine  truth, 
and  of  instructing  the  people  in  religion.  But  this  is  not 
mere  hypothesis,  as  we  shall  see  in  arguments  that  fol- 
low. 

(2)  As  no  true  society  or  community  can  exist  with- 
out I.  officers,  2.  rules,  3.  members,  so  the  religious 
element  cannot  develop  itself  into  an  organized  form  in 
society  without  creating  its  regular  of^cers  as  well  as 
members.     As  the  political  element  in  society  naturally 


1 8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

crystallizes  into  a  regularly  constituted  state,  with  its 
officers,  laws,  and  citizenship,  so  the  religious  principle 
in  society  must  do  the  same  by  the  working  of  the  same 
principle.  This  is  Whately's  argument,  and  may  be 
found  carried  out  fully  in  his  "  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  Essay 
II.  Whenever,  therefore,  the  religious  element  works 
at  all  (and  there  is  no  portion  of  humanity  in  which  it 
does  not  do  so,  truly  or  falsely),  it  must  take  on  some 
kind  of  organized  life  ;  and  this  organized  life,  in  order 
to  exist  and  operate,  must  have  its  regular  officers  or 
ministers  as  well  as  its  rules  and  members. 

(3)  Wherever  man  is,  or  has  been  found,  something 
essentially  corresponding  to  the  office  of  the  Christian 
pastor  or  permanent  religious  teacher  has,  in  fact,  been 
also  found  to  exist.  We  find  the  priestly  office  existing 
in  the  childhood  of  the  race,  and  in  the  earliest  nations 
— not  to  instance  it  among  the  Hebrew  people,  because 
the  Hebrew  priestly  office  might  be  considered  as  having 
been  positively  instituted — but  among  nations  of  a  cor- 
responding antiquity,  the  Chaldean,  Persian,  Egyptian, 
and  Greek.  The  Assyrians,  we  know,  were  a  highly  re- 
ligious nation  ;  everything  was  done  in  the  name  of  the 
god.  The  monarch  himself  was  the  high  priest  of  the 
people.  The  older  Aryans  had  three  classes  of  priests, 
(i)  seers,  (2)  sacrificers,  (3)  wise  men.  The  Iranic  or 
Persian  worship  was  anti-idolatrous  and  essentially  mono- 
theistic ;  Zoroastrianism  inculcated  purity,  inward  as  well 
as  outward,  and  the  esoteric  doctrines  of  immortality  and 
the  resurrection  were  held  by  the  priestly  class.  The 
Magian  was  a  highly  sacerdotal  religion  ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  it  must  be  said,  the  religion  of  China  never 
has  been,  and  is  not  now,  a  sacerdotal  or  hierarchical 
religion,  though  the  emperor  himself  may  possibly  be 
regarded  as  a  kind  of  pontifex  maximus.     The   Greek 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  ig 

priesthood,  from  Homeric  Kalchas,  son  of  Thestor,  "  who 
knew  both  things  that  were  and  that  should  be,  and  that 
had  been  before,"  to  the  prophetic  and  terrible  Teiresias 
of  Sophocles,  with  its  lights  and  shadows,  whose  cheer- 
ing and  mystic  offices  caused  the  worshipper  to  say 

"  Thrice  blest  is  he 
Who  sees  these  rites  ere  he  depart.      For  him 
Hades  is  life,  for  others  naught  but  woe," 

and  whose  darker  power  made  itself  known  in  an  offer- 
ing like  that  of  Iphigenia  at  Aulis — this  is  familiar  to 
classical  scholars.  These  ancient  priests  and  prophets 
were  teachers  of  divine  things,  even  if  mainly  false 
teachers  ;  and  we  have  reason  to  think  that  the  more 
enlightened  Egyptian  priesthood  really  possessed  some 
faint  conceptions  of  truth  concerning  the  unity  of  God's 
nature,  which  constituted  their  mysteries  and  which  was 
continued  and  concealed  in  the  Greek  Eleusinian 
mysteries.  The  sacerdotal  class  of  heathen  antiquity 
presided  over  the  sacrificial  rites  ;  and  here  we  find 
another  root  in  nature  for  the  ministerial  office,  since  the 
idea  of  sacrifice  to  be  perceived  in  all  religions  is  a  natural 
and  universal  idea  of  humanity  springing  from  the  per- 
turbation and  want  which  sin  occasions.  This  same  pro- 
found idea  of  sacrifice  is  what  the  Christian  ministry,  in 
higher  rational  forms  and  purer  spiritual  symbols,  in  its  true 
moral  significance,  chiefly  waits  upon  and  sets  forth.  Even 
the  Druidic  priest  of  our  own  English  ancestors,  dealing 
in  human  sacrifices,  may  have  had  distorted  glimpses  of 
the  spirituality  of  God  ;  for  no  idols  are  found  at  Stone- 
henge,  or  generally  throughout  the  land  of  the  old  Celtic 
cultus.  At  the  present  day  all  existing  nations  even  the 
most  degraded  have  also  their  regular  religious  officers 
and   teachers.      In  Central  Africa  the   blood-besmeared 


20  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

"  fetich-priest"  described  by  Dr.  Livingstone  corre- 
sponds (as  a  putrefying  body  does  with  a  living  one)  to 
the  true  religious  leader  and  instructor  ;  and  as  a  general 
rule,  these  cunning  and  bloody  men  are  supposed  to  be 
the  dupes  of  their  deceitful  arts,  and  believers  in  their 
own  ferocious  religions.  But  we  need  not  confine  the 
argument  to  pagans  and  savages,  for  all  men,  the  most 
highly  civilized  and  educated,  will  have,  and  do  have, 
their  religious  instructors,  whether  true  or  false  ;  for  the 
need  is  in  man  to  seek  for  an  expression  of  the  great 
thoughts  of  the  soul  and  of  divine  truths.  It  is,  there- 
fore, true  that  even  in  the  most  cultivated  sceptical  circles 
a  few  minds  guide  and  rule  the  rest,  as  "  living  oracles," 
from  which  there  is  no  dissent.  They  are  the  chosen 
ministers  of  spiritual  things,  called  to  this  perilous  posi- 
tion by  pre-eminent  intellectual  gifts,  and  they  have  large 
and  devoted  flocks  of  immortal  souls. 

(4)  There  is  something  in  the  nature  and  gifts  of  cer- 
tain men,  instinctively  recognized  by  the  people,  which 
constitutes  them  pastors — Tioijxtvai  \aobv.  Hero-wor- 
ship, though  often  indiscriminating  and  blasphemously 
exaggerated,  and  degenerating,  in  fact,  into  a  kind  of 
devil-worship  of  force,  has  a  germ  of  truth  in  it  ;  for  it  is 
the  method  of  God,  fight  against  it  as  we  may,  that  some 
minds  are  made  to  be  leaders,  and  the  history  of  the 
world  is,  in  a  great  measure,  the  popular  development 
and  assimilation  of  the  thoughts  of  such  minds,  that  are 
acted  upon  by  higher  influences  ;  for  such  minds  are 
more  susceptible  to  such  impulses  ;  they  form  centres  or 
depositories  of  that  supernatural  energy  which  is  im- 
parted and  carried  out  in  great  popular  movements,  ref- 
ormations, and  changes.  In  the  religious  world  Nature 
herself  may,  in  some  sense,  be  said  to  consecrate  certain 
men  for  the  office  of  spiritual  rulers  and   guides — such  as 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  21 

Savonarola,  Luther,  Wyclif,  John  Robinson,  John  Wes- 
ley, and,  in  a  still  higher  sense,  Moses,  Samuel,  Ezra, 
Elias,  John  the  Baptist,  and  the  apostle  Paul.  Such 
men  needed  no  crook  to  show  that  they  were  shepherds 
of  the  people  ;  the  people  recognized  them,  and  willingly 
followed  them,  and  could  not  help  doing  so.  Nature 
points  out  the  true  pastor  of  the  people  by  certain  indis- 
putable signs  :  first  of  all,  by  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  / 
the  willingness  to  lay  down  his  life  for  the  sheep  ;  also  by 
the  power  of  human  sympathy,  which  few  men  manifest 
in  any  large  degree  ;  and  yet  again,  by  a  kingly  love  of 
truth  and  moral  earnestness.  Such  qualities,  bespeaking 
a  natural  fitness  for  the  pastoral  ofifice,  show  that  some 
men  are  marked  by  nature  and  chosen  by  God  to  be  the 
religious  instructors  of  their  fellow-men  ;  and  "  one 
man,"  says  Chrysostom,  "  inspired  with  holy  zeal, 
sufficeth  to  amend  an  entire  people."  * 

There    may  be,   it    is    true,  objections    raised  to    the 
view  which  we  have  endeavored  to  establish  : 

I.  The  levelling  tendencies  of  the  age,  or 
of  coming  ages,  will  do  away  with  the  ministerial  office. 
Thus  Vinet  says  that  Herder  thought  that  the  ministerial 
office  would  at  some  time  be  done  away  ;  but  it  was  from 
a  very  different  reason.'^  Herder's  idea  was,  that  in  the 
growing  and  greater  general  light  of  the  advancing  king- 
dom of  truth,  the  office  of  truth-bearer,  or  light-giver, 
would  be  gradually  absorbed  and  lost  ;  but  that  this  can- 
not be  so,  and  also  that  the  levelling  tendencies  of  the 
age  cannot  do  away  with  the  ministry,  may  be  inferred 
from   three   reasons  :  {a)  As  man  is  born   ignorant,  with 


'  Neander's  "  Life  of  Chrysostom,"  Eng.  ed.,  p.  iig. 
^  "  Pastoral  Theology,"  p.  41. 


2  2  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

no  innate  knowledge  of  God,  though  with  an  intellectual 
and  moral  constitution  exquisitely  fitted  to  receive  this 
truth,  he  must  continue  to  have  instruction  in  divine 
truth,  {b)  As  man  is  an  imperfect  and  sinful  being,  and 
will  continue  to  be  so,  he  must  continue  to  have  guides 
to  holiness.  (<:)  And  to  advance  a  step  beyond  nature, 
and  take  in,  also,  an  idea  of  revealed  truth,  or  of  the 
gospel,  so  long  as  the  present  economy  of  nature  and 
grace  remains  unchanged,  and  man  continues  to  be  a 
being  who  needs  to  be  saved  by  the  redemption  of  Christ, 
no  man,  to  the  end  of  time,  can  be  led  back  to  God  and 
saved  without  the  instrumentality,  directly  or  indirectly, 
of  divine  truth  and  love  brought  to  bear  upon  his  heart. 
2.  Among  the  truly  enlightened  and  good  there  is  no 
longer  any  need  of  the  minister,  who  is  needed  only  for 
the  ignorant,  dark-minded,  and  wicked  ;  but  every  good 
man's  own  heart  is  his  temple,  and  his  own  conscience 
his  minister.  The  objector  here  altogether  loses  sight  of 
the  great  fact  that  man  is  a  social  being,  and  bound  up 
with  a  race  in  the  same  natural  and  spiritual  economy  ; 
that  his  perfection,  or  his  highest  perfection,  is  in  union 
with  the  perfection  of  common  humanity,  and  that  no 
man  can  individually  possess  the  perfect  truth  ;  he  needs 
the  aid  and  wisdom  of  his  fellow-man  to  whom  may  be 
granted  more  light  in  spiritual  things.  That  is  the 
natural  way  appointed  for  man  to  come  to  the  truth,  and 
to  widen  his  own  sphere  of  truth,  through  the  help  and 
sympathy  of  his  fellow-man — the  truth  thus  glancing  from 
mind  to  mind,  or  being  concentrated,  like  magnetic 
centres,  in  some  chosen  minds.  In  short,  no  man  can 
secede  from  the  race,  or  from  the  Church  ;  he  must  be 
willing  to  sit  down  at  a  common  table,  and  feed  upon  a 
common  bread  of  life.  "  One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism, one  God  and   Father  of  all,  who  is  above  all,  and 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  23 

through  all,  and  in  you  all,"  is  a  truth  of  nature  as  well 
as  of  revelation.  We  therefore  hold  that  the  office  of  the 
religious  minister  will  never  give  way  to  the  encroach- 
ments or  changes  of  time  ;  and  that  men  may  level  the 
hills,  but  they  cannot  build  railroads  to  heaven  ;  that  the 
pastoral  office  is  as  much  a  natural  institution  in  the 
moral  and  spiritual  world  as  a  mountain  which  supplies 
the  plains  with  moisture  and  streams  is  in  the  physical 
world  ;  that  human  nature  responds  to  the  divine  com- 
mand, "  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work 
unto  which  I  have  called  them  ;"  that  as  all  men  have 
recognized  the  divine  office  in  the  past,  they  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so  in  the  future  ;  and  it  is  well,  in  these 
times  of  growing  irreverence  for  positive  institutions, 
and  of  the  increased  importance  which  is  given  to  natural 
institutions  and  intuitions,  that  pastors  should  show  to 
their  people  the  natural  foundations  of  the  pastoral  office, 
and  make  them  see  that  if  they  have  not  the  true  re- 
ligious teacher — the  "  ministry  of  the  word  "  of  God — 
they  will  inevitably  have  the  false  religious  teacher — the 
ministry  of  the  word  of  man.  But  we  have  higher  and 
surer  ground  even  than  this  to  stand  upon. 

Sec.  3.   Divine  Institution  of  Pastoral  Office, 

Whatever  is  necessitated  or  established  by  nature  is,  in 
a  true  sense,  a  divine  institution  ;  but  God  has  also  put 
a  special  stamp  of  positive  divine  institution  upon  the 
office  of  the  Christian  pastor.  "  Jesus  Christ  instituted 
little.  He  inspired  much  more  ;"  and  the  same  writer  from 
whom  this  is  quoted  says,  "  Christ  implicitly  instituted 
the  ministry,  unless  it  may  be  said  that  the  continuation 
of  the  work  did  not  require  special  men,  such  as  had 
been  needed  at  the  beginning.  He  appears  as  the  guide 
of  the  Church,  of  its  first  messengers  ;  the  organization 


24  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  government  of  the  Church  are  ascribed  to  Him,  and 
it  was  evident,  according  to  Paul,  that  it  was  His  will  that 
the  Church  should  have  ministers.  The  apostles,  as  they 
had  been  sent,  sent  in  their  turn  ;  the  ministry  continues  in 
itself  without  having  been  formally  instituted — once  for 
all.  .  .  .  Let  us  also  observe  that  whatever  may  be  said 
to-day  in  favor  of  the  abolition  of  the  ministry  might 
have  been  said  at  that  time  against  its  institution.  One 
might  have  then  said  that  every  faithful  person  is  a  min- 
ister, which  is  true  ;  that  no  believer  should  be  exempt 
from  the  showing  forth  the  praises  of  Him  who  called 
them  out  of  darkness  into  His  marvellous  light  (i  Pet. 
2  :  9),  which  is  also  true  ;  that  the  Christian  life  is  a 
system  of  preaching  ;  that  faith  begets  faith.  All 
these  things  are  true  ;  but  with  these  there  are  others 
not  less  true,  which  make  the  ministry  as  necessary  to- 
day as  it  ever  has  been.  Let  us  observe,  finally,  that  the 
apostles  have  never  spoken  of  the  ministry  as  an  acci- 
dental, transitory  thing,  or  a  temporary  institution.  In 
short,  on  this  subject,  we  think,  that  to  strike  out  the 
word  institution  would  scarcely  be  more  than  taking 
away  a  word  ;  since,  if  Jesus  Christ  has  not  formally,  and 
in  some  way  by  letters  patent,  instituted  the  ministry, 
we  cannot  doubt  as  to  His  will  respecting  it.  It  is  no 
departure  from  truth,  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the 
ministry  is  a  divine  institution."  ' 

Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  found  a 
kingdom  of  truth  ;  and  after  his  brief  ministerial  life 
and  testifying  death  he  was  to  develop  and  extend  in 
the  minds  of  men  the  truth  he  came  to  establish.  He 
planted  the  germ,  by  his  own  human  life  and  death, 
which  was  to  be  nourished  through  his  spiritual  presence 


'  Vinet's  "  Pastoral  Theologj',"  pp.  42,  45. 


THE  PASTORAL   OFFICE.  25 

in  the  world  after  he  had  left  it  in  the  body.  The 
special  means,  he  taught  us,  by  which  his  spirit  was  to 
operate,  was  through  the  free  and  affectionate  agency  of 
human  instrumentalities  informed  by  his  spirit  in  all 
truth.  In  this  way  the  Church  was  to  be  saved  from 
idolatry,  from  the  superstitious  worship  of  the  human 
person  of  Christ,  and  from  the  worship  of  any  one  im- 
personated form  of  truth,  rather  than  the  spiritual  wor- 
ship of  God  ;  for  the  truth  was  to  be  taught  in  many 
ways,  and  through  the  medium  of  various  independent 
minds,  that,  taken  together,  represent  the  common  wants 
and  characteristics  of  the  race  and  the  unity  of  humanity. 
The  Lord  chose,  to  be  the  immediate  depositaries  of  the 
truth,  certain  men  out  of  the  multitudes  who  were  at- 
tracted by  his  teachings — men  of  strong  spiritual  sus- 
ceptibilities, though  of  humble  origin,  and  of  the  greatest 
contrasts  of  natural  gifts  and  dispositions — a  little  repre- 
sentative world.'  The  Lord  kept  these  ever  near  him  ; 
he  ate,  walked,  and  lived  with  them  ;  he  moulded  them 
into  the  image  of  his  will  ;  he  prepared  them  for  their 
work  by  impressing  upon  them  his  own  ^j^^  ^  ^^.j^g 
spirit,  by  training  them  to  his  methods  of  the  first 
teaching  truth,  by  making  them,  in  a  word,  Christian 
Christ-like  ;  for  the  apostles  were  the  first  "linisters. 
Christian    ministers,    taught    by    Christ    himself.       The 


'  Mosheim  thinks  that  the  twelve  apostles  had  reference  to  the  twelve 
tribes  of  Israel  ;  that  the  name  itself  is  Jewish,  and  was  applied  to  the 
officials  or  legates  of  the  high  priest,  who  were  despatched  on  missions  of 
importance,  they  thus  signifying  that  Christ  claimed  to  be  the  true  high 
priest  of  the  nation  and  of  men.  The  number  twelve,  afterward,  as  com- 
posing a  jury,  and  its  use  in  other  relations,  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  apostles  were  intended  to  represent  the  popular  mind,  the  world,  in  a 
religious  point  of  view.  Many  types  of  this  number  may  be  found  in 
the  Old  Testament,  as  in  Num.  i  :  44,  13  :  3  ;  Josh.  4:8;  and  in  the 
New  Testament,  Rev.  21  :  12,  21  ;  22  :  2  ;  Matt.  19  :  28. 


26  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

men  out  of  whom  the  apostles  were  chosen  were,  prob- 
ably, most  of  them,  John's  disciples,  and  were  those 
who  hungered  and  thirsted  after  a  real  righteousness, 
who  prayed  for  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  who  were  thus 
prepared  to  look  unto  and  receive  Jesus,  He  immedi- 
ately brought  them  into  the  closer  circle  of  his  own  in- 
timate companionship.  He  made  them  "  fishers  of 
men,"  Matt.  4  :  18-22  ;  Mark  i  :  16-20  ;  Luke  5  :  i-ii  ; 
Matt.  9  :  10.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been  one  of  the 
principal  parts  of  Christ's  brief  ministry  to  train  these 
men  for  their  work — and,  but  for  these  twelve,  humanly 
speaking,  Christianity  might  have  perished.'  He  taught 
them  to  be  like  himself — catholic,  unselfish,  self-sacrific- 
ing. But  how  unpropitious  and  crass  was  the  material 
out  of  which  the  apostles  were  fashioned  !  Peter  was 
literally  made  over  again  in  character,  and  the  beloved 
and  loving  John  merited  the  rebuke,  "  Ye  know  not  what 
spirit  ye  are  of."  But  notwithstanding  their  original 
crudeness  and  unfitness  for  a  divine  work,  Jesus  "  called 
unto  him  whom  he  would,  and  they  came  unto  him  ; 
and  he  ordained  twelve,  that  they  might  be  with  him, 
and  that  he  might  send  them  forth  to  preach"  (Mark 
3  :  13,  14)  ;  and  these  he  taught  how  to  pray,  to  live 
holy  lives,  to  observe  fasting,  and  to  keep  the  Sabbath 
not  in  the  Judaic  but  Christian  spirit  ;  to  become  Chris- 
tians from  being  Jews,  to  love  all  men,  and  to  worship 
the  Father.  He  sent  them  forth  on  missions  of  preaching 
and  benevolence,  correcting  and  encouraging  them  ;  and 
at  length,  after  his  death,  he  sent  the  Holy  Spirit,  who 
is  also  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  to  be  ever  with  them  and  fit 
them  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  world  (Matt.  10  :  1-8  ; 
John   20    :    21).      In   some   respects,  therefore,    they   are 


Bruce's  "  Training^  of  the  Twelve,"  p.  II. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  27 

the  models  for  all  Christian  ministers,  while  in  other 
respects  they  stand  alone  and  unapproachable.  The 
apostles,  according  to  the  Saviour's  command,  con- 
tinued in  Jerusalem  for  quite  a  long  period — Lechler 
says  for  twenty-five  years,  though  other  commentators 
narrow  this  time  down  to  something  like  twelve  years. 
The  apostles,  at  all  events,  remained  in  Jerusalem 
long  enough  completely  to  organize  the  Christian 
Church,  and  to  establish  it  in  all  its  simple  but  divine 
ways,  ordinances,  and  doctrines,  preaching  and  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  pastors,  as  would  appear  from  Acts 
2  :  42,  5  :  42.  The  church  in  Jerusalem  very  soon  grew 
to  the  number  of  five  thousand,  and  doubtless  continued 
to  increase  rapidly  ;  though,  suffering  persecution,  it  was 
impossible  that  it  should  continue  to  remain  one  con- 
gregation. It  was,  undoubtedly,  soon  broken  up  into 
different  congregations,  or  parishes,  which  had  teachers 
and  presbyters  of  the  apostles*  appointment  ;  but  the 
whole  body  was  still  presided  over  by  the  apostles.  This 
primitive  idea  of  different  church  organizations,  with  dif- 
ferent pastors  while  forming  but  one  Church,  founded 
upon  the  apostles,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being  the  chief 
corner-stone,  as  it  was  seen  in  this  primitive  Jerusalem 
apostolic  church,  is  a  beautiful  conception  of  the  Christian 
Church  which  was  then  fully  realized,  and  which  carried 
out  the  truth  that  will  finally  be  recognized  and  re-estab- 
lished, that  "  there  is  one  body  and  one  Spirit."  Let  us, 
then,  examine  this  name  or  function  of  "apostle,"  as  being 
the  first  historic  instance  of  the  divine  office  of  the  Chris- 
tian ministry  which  was  positively  founded  by  Christ 
Himself  ;  and  let  us  see  wherein  it  differs  from  and 
agrees  with  the  present  office  of  Christian  pastor.  Vinet 
says  it  is  "  the  soul  that  gives  the  name  ;"  and  this 
name  of  "  apostle,"  as  well  as  other  names  of  the  minis- 


/ 


28  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

terial  office,  originally  expressed  some  distinct  idea,  and 
sprang  from  some  real  necessity. 

AnoGroXo'i.  This  is  derived  from  ocnoarLWoo^  "  to 
send  off  "  or  "  send  forth."  In  classic  Greek,  anoaroXo'^^ 
is  used  for  "  a  commander  of  a  fleet  ready  to 
sail  ;  its  prime  idea  is  that  of  a  messenger 
fully  prepared,  fitted,  charged,  to  go  on  some  definite 
commission,  such  as  the  legate  or  ambassador  of  a 
government.  This  idea  of  definite  "  commission"  is 
shown  in  Gal.  2:8.  In  this  sense  the  term  is  applied 
to  the  Saviour  (Heb.  2  :  21). 

The  historic  application  or  significance  of  this  term  in 
Scripture  doubtless  has  reference  to  the  act  of  the 
Saviour  when  He  sent  forth  the  twelve  (Mark  16  :  15) 
with  the  charge,  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  every  creature. "  The  apostles  were  spe- 
cially fitted  and  commissioned  by  Christ  to  bear  His  mes- 
sage, and  testify  of  Him  to  the  world.  They  could  do 
this,  because  they  had  seen,  known,  and  been  instructed 
by  him.  They  were  His  personal  and  credible  witnesses 
(Luke  24  :  46-48)  :  "And  said  unto  them.  Thus  it  is 
written,  and  thus  it  behoved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise 
from  the  dead  the  third  day  :  and  that  repentance  and 
remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  name,  among 
all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  ye  are  wit- 
nesses of  these  things."  They  were  not  only  eye-wit- 
nesses, but  heart-witnesses,  by  having  known  and  loved 
Christ,  so  that  they  could  say  (r  John  i  :  2,  3),  "For 
the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen  it,  and  bear 
witness  and  show  unto  you  that  eternal  life  which  was 
with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us.  That 
which  we  have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you, 
that  ye  also  might  have  fellowship  with   us  ;   and  truly 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  29 

our    fellowship    is   with    the    Father    and   with    his   Son 
Jesus  Christ. " 

They  proclaimed  Christ  from  love,  from  the  deep  ap- 
prehension of  their  whole  being,  as  Chjist  said  to  them, 
a  short  time  before  his  death  (John  15  :  15,  16), 
"  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants  ;  for  the  servant 
knoweth  not  what  his  Lord  doeth  ;  but  I  have  called 
you  friends  ;  for  all  things  that  I  have  heard  of  my 
Father,  I  have  made  known  unto  you.  Ye  have  not 
chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you,  ^ 
that  ye  should  go  and  bring  forth  fruit,  and  that  your 
fruit  should  remain  ;  that  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  of  the 
Father  in  my  name,  he  may  give  it  you."  As  Christ's 
friends,  they  had  been  brought  into  fellowship  with 
Christ,  and  had  looked  not  only  on  his  face,  but  on  his 
soul  ;  one  of  them,  at  least,  had  not  only  leaned  upon 
his  breast,  but  had  imbibed  his  spirit.'  Christ's 
spiritual  personality  was  formed  within  them  ;  in  John's 
gospel,  especially,  we  have  the  divine  life  as  it  is  only 
manifested  to  the  soul  in  communion  with  the  Redeemer, 
and  John's  Christology- — profound,  vitalizing,  contain- 
ing the  hidden  germ  of  eternal  life — remains  still  the 
deepest  revelation  of  God  to  the  human  mind.  They 
were  thus  superior  to  all  gainsaying  on  the  subject  of 
Christ  and  his  truth,  for  they  knew  whereof  they 
af^rmed,  and  testified  that  they  had  seen. 

The  words  just  quoted  above  from  John  15  were  not 
spoken  to  Judas,  neither  was  the  commission  to  go  forth 
and  preach  the  gospel  spoken  to  him.  His  character 
should  be  studied  by  every  minister  ;  for  he  may  also 
have  had  some  native  susceptibility  to  love  what  was 
lovable,  and  he  may  have  loved  Christ  at  first  sight  with 


'  Luke  22  :  28  ;  24  :  44-49  :  John  14  :  28  ;.  15  :  26,  27  ;   16  :  13,  lyih  ch. 


30  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

impulsive  affection  ;  but  the  world  was  strong  in  him, 
and  the  power  of  Christ's  love  was  not  able  to  draw  him 
into  this  higher  spiritual  fellowship  with  the  Saviour  ;  he 
w^as  at  heart  worldly  ;  the  root  of  supreme  selfishness  was 
not  cut  up  in  him,  and  he  followed  Christ  not  for  his 
Lord's  sake,  but  for  his  own.  The  example  of  Judas, 
one  of  the  twelve  first  Christian  ministers,  is  a  peculiar 
admonition  to  ministers  that  the  service  of  Christ,  and 
daily  contact  with  the  highest  truth,  are  not  enough  in 
themselves  to  secure  fidelity  to  the  Master. 

But  let  us  look  at  the  more  specific  application  of  the 
term  "apostle."  Without  entering  into  the  controver- 
sies respecting  James  and  Jude,  and  other  mooted  points, 
the  name  anoarokoi  is  strictly  applied  to  the  twelve 
apostles,  or,  more  specifically,  to  the  eleven,  sent  forth 
by  Christ  to  testify  of  Him  whom  they  had  personally 
seen  and  known.  These  are  what  Paul  calls  (2  Cor. 
11:5)  oi  vn^pkiav  aTtoarokoi  ;  and  in  Acts  I  :  26,  oi 
svdsHa  anoGToXoi.  In  this  sense,  of  course,  there  were 
no  successors  of  the  apostles  ;  but  we  find  the  name 
a7ro(JTo\o<;  applied  also  to  Paul  by  himself  ;  and  we  believe 
he  used  it  in  its  original  application.  He  calls  himself 
(i  Cor.  I  :  i)  nXrjto'i  a7toaro\o<i — one  specially  called,  or 
commissioned,  by  Christ  ;  and  in  Eph.  i  :  i,  fl'TroVroAo? 
h](30v  XpiGToi')  6ia  GeXypiaTos  Qsov  —  one  to  whom 
Christ  had  specially  revealed  himself  (at  his  conversion, 
at  least),  and  had  indicated  his  will  to  him  as  truly  and 
literally  as  to  the  original  apostles — i  Cor.  15  :  8  :  "  And 
last  of  all  he  was  seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born  out  of 
due  time."  He  had  a  claim,  which  he  strenuously  main- 
tained, to  be  called  an  original  apostle,  though  it  is  a 
puerile  supposition  that  Paul  was  chosen  by  Christ  to  fill 
Judas's  place,  instead  of  Matthias,  who  was  chosen  sim- 
ply by  the  apostles.     As  to  Matthias,  he  was  chosen  after 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  3 1 

special  prayer  to  Christ,  and,  without  doubt,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  he  also,  of  course,  had  seen 
the  Lord.  He  was  indeed  chosen  from  the  older  dis- 
ciples who  had  witnessed  all  the  events  of  Christ's  life 
from  the  act  of  his  baptism  by  John  (Acts  i  :  15-26). 
But  the  term  "  apostle"  is  applied,  in  two  other  in- 
stances, to  other  than  the  eleven.  In  Acts  14  :  4  and  14, 
Barnabas  and  Paul  are  called  "  apostles  ;"  but  here,  it  is 
probable,  the  greater  contains  the  less.  As  Barnabas 
was  appointed  the  helper  of  Paul,  he  naturally  shines  in 
his  light;  and  Barnabas  himself  {Bar-Ndba,  "son  of 
prophecy,"  "son  of  preaching,"  and,  after  Paul,  one  of 
the  most  active  witnesses  of  Christ),  moreover,  had  seen 
the  Lord,  so  that  even  in  the  original  sense  he  had  a  cer- 
tain right  to  be  called  an  "apostle;"  and  both  were 
solemnly  set  apart  by  the  elders  of  the  church  of 
Antioch,  by  the  co-ordinate  agency  of  the  church  in 
ordaining  them,  and  under  the  special  command  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  (Acts  13  :  2). 

The  remaining  instance  is  in  Romans  16  :  7,  where 
Andronicus  and  Junia  are  called  apostles,  or,  at  least, 
this  passage  may  be  so  interpreted.  If  so,  the  word  is 
either  used  in  a  secondary  or  non-ofificial  sense,  as 
"  messengers"  of  Christ  (2  Cor.  8  :  23  ;  Phil.  2  :  25)  ;  or 
these  persons  had  really  acquired  the  right  to  the  name 
from  the  fact  that  they  too  had  seen  the  Lord  ;  for  it  is 
said  of  them,  01  ual  npo  ejxov  yeyovaGiv  iv  Xpiardj. 
That,  undoubtedly,  has  reference  to  those  of  whom  Paul 
speaks  in  i  Cor.  15  :  6  :  "  And  he  was  seen  of  above 
five  hundred  at  once,  of  whom  the  greater  part  remain 
unto  this  present,  but  some  are  fallen  asleep."  The  term 
"apostle,"  therefore,  we  think,  is  never,  in  its  primary 
or  strictly  official  sense,  specifically  applied  to  any  but 
those  who  had  seen  Christ,  or  who  could  thus  personally 


32  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

testify  of  him  and  of  his  resurrection.  This  simple  fact 
would  seem  to  be  decisive  in  regard  to  the  theory  of  the 
apostolical  succession,  which  means  the  transmission 
through  the  episcopate  of  the  power  and  authority  com- 
mitted by  our  Lord  to  his  apostles,  and  which  is  disposed 
of  so  conclusively  by  Whately,  in  his  "  Kingdom  of 
Christ"  (Essay  II.,  p.  182)  ;  and  surely,  when  we  have 
the  positive  statements  of  such  a  learned  churchman  as 
Archbishop  Whately,  and  of  Bishop  Stillingfleet,  who 
declared  that  "  this  succession  is  as  muddy  as  the  Tiber 
itself,"  and  of  Bishop  Hoadly,  who  says,  "  It  hath  not 
pleased  God,  in  his  providence,  to  keep  up  any  proof  of 
the  least  probability,  or  moral  possibility,  of  a  regular, 
uninterrupted  succession  ;  but  there  is  a  great  appear- 
ance, and,  humanly  speaking,  a  certainty,  to  the  con- 
trary, that  the  succession  hath  often  been  interrupted," 
— we  need  not  enter  into  further  reasoning  upon  that 
point.  "Irregularities  through  such  a  long  stretch  of 
time  could  not  have  been  prevented  without  a  miracle  ; 
and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  there  are  many  such  recorded."  * 
Besides  this,  the  STtiffnoTto?  of  the  ancient  churches  coex- 
isted with  the  apostles  and  did  not  succeed  it  ;  neither  did 
it  ordain  it.  Even  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  does  not 
claim  that  the  consecration  of  a  bishop  is  a  sacrament,  but 
that  the  ordination  of  a  priest  is.  A  bishop  has  no  more 
transcendent  powers  than  the  simple  priest,  but  what 
ordo  jurisdictionis  he  has  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  his 
is  an  order  of  the  true  Church,  or  true  body  of  Christ. 
It  is  different  with  the  claims  of  a  portion  of  the  Anglican 
Church." 

The   fallacy  of  the  theory,  we  think,  is  in   making  the 
succession  individual  instead  of  general.   The  fact  of  a 


'  Whately's  "  Kingdom  of  Christ." 

•  Dr.  Newman  in  British  Quarterly,  Jan.  1877,  p.  53. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  33 

body  of  Christian  ministers'  continuously  existing  from 
the  time  of  the  apostles  to  the  present  day,  or  of  the 
Church's  always  having  and  recognizing  its  own  ministers, 
who,  in  an  important  sense,  derive  their  succession  from 
the  apostles  by  possessing  their  spirit  and  teaching  the 
truth  they  taught — this  is  an  undeniable  and  valuable 
fact  ;  but  that  any  one  minister  of  this  series,  let  him  be 
called  "bishop,"  or  simple  "pastor,"  has  had  an  un- 
broken descent,  by  successive  ordinations,  from  the 
apostles — this  is  too  great  an  assertion  ;  it  cannot  be  sus- 
tained. And  this  is  all — this  assumption — that  there  is 
in  the  claim  of  the  apostolical  succession.  The  New 
Testament  office  of  apostle  was  a  peculiar  one,  applied 
nar  sBoxrjv  to  the  immediate  envoys  of  Jesus  Christ. 
"  Lcs  apotres  furent  congus  dc'sormais  comme  nommes, 
une  fois  pour  toutes,  par  Jesus  et  ne  doivent  pas  avoir  des 
successciirs.  Le  danger  dun  college  permanent  gardant 
pour  lui  toute  la  vie  et  toiite  la  force  de  f  association,  fut 
^carte,  pour  un  temps,  avec  un  instinct  profond.  La  con- 
centration de  r Eglise  en  une  oligarchic  7ie  vint  que  Men 
plus  iard."  '  De  Pressense  says,  "Apostolical  succession 
then  is  not  the  privilege  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  body, 
but  of  the  whole  ;  the  Christian  Church  itself  carries  on 
the  apostolic  office.  There  is  nothing  in  such  a  concep- 
tion derogatory  to  the  authority  of  the  apostles.  In 
them  was  concentrated,  so  to  speak,  all  the  gifts  be- 
stowed on  the  Christians  of  the  Primitive  Church,  for  they 
were  the  immediate  witnesses  of  Christ.  The  primitive 
apostolate,  founded  upon  personal  contact  with  Jesus 
Christ,  was  not  designed  to  be  transmitted  ;  it  was  to 
give  place  subsequently  to  a  more  spiritual  apostleship" 
(Acts  2  :  38  ;   10  :  48). 


'  Renan's  "  Apotres,"  p. 


/ 


34  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

While,  therefore,  with  many  eminent  scholars  and 
theologians  of  the  Episcopal  Church,  we  cannot  hold  to 
any  such  sacramental  virtue  imparted  by  the  laying  on 
of  human  hands,  we  still  heartily  believe  in  a  general 
and  moral  and  authoritative  though  not  individual,  and, 
as  it  were,  physical,  succession  of  Christ's  ministers  from 
the  apostles.  We  believe  that  every  true  minister's  com- 
mission to  preach  is  drawn  from  Christ  himself,  not  from 
his  apostles. 

The  intrinsic  apostolic  office  was  an  extraordinary  one, 
and  ceased  with  the  apostles  ;  which  we  believe  is  true 
from  these  simple  reasons  :  i.  Because  the  "  apostle" 
was  one  who  had  personally  seen  Christ  and  his  works, 
and  thus  could  bear  direct  testimony  of  him.  2.  Be- 
cause he  had  received  a  direct  personal  commission  from 
Christ.  3.  Because  he  had  received  supernatural  gifts 
— viz.,  the  gift  of  inspiration  and  the  gift  of  working 
miracles.  4.  Because  the  apostles  were  overseers  and 
planters  of  the  universal  Church,  they  exercised  a  general 
care  and  oversight  of  the  churches  ;  in  a  word,  "  the 
government  of  the  churches  was  vested  in  the  apostles, 
not  individually,  but  collectively."'  The  apostles  had 
an  incontestable  superiority.  They  were  the  founders 
who  had  received  a  direct  command  to  announce  to  the 
world  the  kingdom  of  God  (Acts  5  :  12  seq.^.  5.  Be- 
cause, historically,  although  there  were  extraordinary  ap- 
pointments ordered  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  as  the  choice  of 
Matthias  to  replace  Judas  and  the  appointment  of  Paul  and 
Barnabas,  we  hear  of  no  new  apostles  being  regularly 
chosen  after  the  death  of  James  the  elder  (Acts  12  :  i). 

But  though  the  name  and  office  of  "  apostle"  were 
thus  extraordinary  and  incommunicable,  yet   the  apostle 


'  Coleman's  "  Primitive  Church,"  p.  150. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  35 

formed  the  type  of  the  Christian  ministry  ;  he  included 
in  himself  all  the  gifts  of  the  Christian  ministry,  such  as 
the  gift  of  tongues,  of  prophecy,  of  teaching  ;  and  out 
of  the  "  apostle"  was  developed  every  office  and  element 
of  the  Christian  ministry.  He  formed  its  head-spring  as 
Christ  of  him.  This  identification  is  seen  more  specifi-  \/ 
cally  from  three  or  four  reasons  :  i.  The  work  of  the 
Christian  ministry  now  is  essentially  the  same  as  that  of 
the  apostles — viz.,  to  testify  of  "  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus"  to  all  men.  2.  Its  call  is  essentially  the  same, 
for  every  true  minister  receives  a  real,  if  not  manifestly 
personal,  call  from  Christ  himself,  and  is  a  minister  Sid 
deXifi^aro?  Oeov.  3.  The  instructions  the  apostles  re- 
ceived from  Christ  apply  in  spirit,  if  not  in  letter,  to 
ministers  now.  The  "  sermon  on  the  mount"  has  been 
called  Christ's  "  ordination  sermon,"  although  Nean- 
der  thinks  it  was  not  addressed  exclusively  to  the 
apostles  ;  yet  it  was  doubtless  primarily  addressed  to 
them.  The  discourse  of  our  Lord  in  Matthew  10,  respect- 
ing the  disciples  in  their  relations  to  the  world,  and  His 
conversations  in  John,  13th,  14th,  15th,  i6th,  and  17th 
chapters,  are  precious  testaments  to  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel. 4.  The  lives  of  the  apostles  were  meant  to  be 
"  ensamples"  of  Christian  ministers'  lives  ;  and  the  best 
human  model  of  the  Christian  minister  is  the  apostle 
Paul  (Acts  20  :  18-28).  The  differences  in  the  ages  being 
so  great,  the  apostles,  of  course,  in  many  things — in 
their  dress,  mode  of  living,  and  even  outward  forms  of 
speech  and  preaching — cannot  now  be  followed  entirely  ; 
but  as  it  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  Christianity  to  erect 
exclusive  orders,  or  to  take  men  out  of  the  pale  of  human 
sympathy  and  imitation  (Rom.  i  :  10-12  ;  15  :  24-33), 
therefore  we  believe  that  apostles  are  our  pastoral  mod- 
els   in  all  respects,    excepting    where  they  were  plainly 


36  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

endowed  with  peculiar  and  supernatural  gifts.  The 
apostles  individually  assumed  no  special  authority,  but 
they  exemplified  the  humility  of  their  faith  by  address- 
ing other  Christians  as  "  brethren,"  by  making  the  idea 
of  service  to  cover  all  the  power  that  they  assumed,  and 
by  recognizing  the  full  rights  of  individual  Christians,  and 
of  the  churches,  in  ecclesiastical  matters  (i  Cor.  3  :  22  ; 
4  :  I  ;  2  Cor.  4:5;  Acts  14  :  23). 

Christ  left  the  apostles  to  ordain  and  regulate  the 
ministry,  even  as  he  left  them  to  plant  and  organize  the 
Church  ;  and  we  judge  from  this  that  questions  about  the 
form  and  order  of  the  ministry  are  really  secondary  ques- 
tions ;  there  was  to  be  a  ministry  to  preach  the  truth  and 
to  serve  the  Church,  but  historical  events  were  permitted 
to  shape  and  mould  the  outward  form  of  this  ministry. 

There  is  a  comprehensive  passage  in  Ephesians  4:11, 
where  the  divine  foundation  of  the  Church  is  treated  of, 
and  the  different  New  Testament  appellations  of  the 
Christian  ministry  are  given,  each  of  which  has  a  founda- 
tion in  some  truth  or  duty  connected  with  the  original 
institution  of  the  ministry,  and  this  may  introduce  us  to 
a  brief  discussion  of  other  ministerial  titles  ;  and  gather- 
ing these  all  up,  and  pressing  out  their  juices,  we  may 
see  the  full  richness  of  the  pastoral  office,  as  instituted 
by  Christ.  This  passage  from  Ephesians  will  be  our 
text  :  "  And  he  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets, 
and  some  evangelists,  and  some  pastors  and  teachers,  for 
the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ." 

^  Upoqjr^Trji.  This  title,  occurring  next  after  aTtofftoXo?, 
is  thus  invariably  assigned  to  the  second  place.  It  was 
also  an  extraordinary  title  in  that  which  was  peculiar  to  it. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  37 

It  arose  from  a  necessity  of  the  times.  In  the  Gentile 
churches  newly  created  from  the  heathen  world,  as  Chris- 
tian teachers  were  rare,  new  converts  seem 
to  have  been  inspired  by  an  immediate  in- 
spiration of  God  to  teach  divine  truth,  and  in  some  cases, 
as  that  spoken  of  in  Acts  11  :  28,  to  foretell  events  ;  '^ 
although  Olshausen,  on  i  Cor.  14  :  i,  asserts  that  "  the 
work  of  the  prophet  in  the  Apostolic  Church  was  the 
awakening  power  necessary  for  the  extension  of  the  in- 
fant Church,  and  therefore  was  held  in  high  respect." 
It  is  probable  that  the  Old  Testament  "  prophet"  was 
more  peculiarly  a  revealer  of  future  things,  and  the 
New  Testament  "  prophet"  w^as  one  inspired  to  an  ex- 
traordinary insight  of  spiritual  things  already  revealed. 
It  was  an  opening  of  truth  to  the  mind,  a  flash  of 
light  from  above,  impelling  one  to  speak,  as  in  i  Cor. 
14  :  29-31. 

As  this  gift  of  prophecy  was  a  great  and  enviable  gift, 
so  it  would  be  coveted  by  many  ;  and  false  prophets 
arose  even  in  the  apostles'  day.  But  there  were  certain 
signs  or  evidences,  indicated  by  the  apostles,  to  detect 
false  prophets.  This  peculiar  x^P'-^f^^  npocpr^reiai  did 
not  probably  survive  what  might  properly  be  called  the 
apostolic  age,  though  it  might  have  lingered  somewhat 
longer  ;  for  when  the  churches  became  established, 
young  men  were  regularly  set  apart  and  instructed  for 
the  ministry. 

Yet  even  as  there  are  points  of  resemblance  between 
the  apostolic  office  and  that  of  the  minister  now,  and,  as 
the  schoolmen  said,  "  the  whole  is  contained  in  every 
part,  and  v.  v.  ;"  so,  in  some  sense,  the  office  of  "  proph- 
et," as  belonging  to  the  ministry  as  a  whole,  remains  in 
the  Church,  and  has  its  partial  gift  represented  now  ;  for 
the    "  prophets"    were   preachers  of  Christ.      They  were 


38  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

extraordinarily  endowed  to  teach  divine  truth  in  times  of 
ignorance  and  darkness  ;  and,  in  like  manner,  there  have 
been,  in  the  whole  history  of  the  Church,  peculiar,  if  not 
supernatural,  illuminations  of  individual  minds,  to  teach 
divine  truth,  to  manifest  the  way  of  life  in  times  of  un- 
usual deadness  and  gloom.  Prophetic  minds,  rising  up 
in  lapsed  epochs  of  the  Church,  have  not  only  brought 
great  native  powers  to  bear  upon  truth,  but  in  those 
shaping  influences  which  have  gone  forth  from  them,  and 
in  new  unfoldings  of  truth,  there  seem  to  have  been 
special  illuminations  of  the  Spirit  granted  them,  as 
teachers  of  the  Word.  They  have  been  centres  of 
spiritual  awakening  ;  and  often  men  of  simple  lives  in 
the  Church,  with  no  pretension  to  learning,  have  a  power 
imparted  to  them  almost  like  that  of  the  old  "  prophet," 
and  this  in  the  very  mode  of  exhortation  of  the  Primitive 
Church,  for  the  original  "  prophets"  were  probably  un- 
educated men. 

John  Bunyan,  it  would  seem,  was  a  good  example  of 
such  a  "  prophet"  in  the  Church.  His  work  was  pecul- 
iarly an  inspiring  and  arousing  work  ;  he  said  that  his 
preaching  "  began  with  sinners,"  and  was  chiefly  address- 
ed to  the  impenitent  conscience,  to  doing  that  awaken- 
ing work  of  which  he  had  himself  so  deep  an  experience 
as  a  sinner.  His  famous  "  Jerusalem  Sermon"  is,  from 
beginning  to  end,  a  trumpet-blast  exhortation  to  the 
sleeping  conscience.  These  words  of  Bunyan  have  al- 
ways seemed  to  have  in  them  something  of  the  spirit  of 
the  inspired  times  of  the  primitive  Christian  Church  :  "  I 
will  not  now  speak  all  that  I  know  in  this  matter,  yet  my 
experience  hath  more  interest  in  that  text  of  Scripture, 
Gal.  I  :  II,  12,  than  many  among  men  are  aware:  'I 
certify  unto  you,  my  brethren,  that  the  gospel  which  is 
preached  of  me  is  not  after  man.     For  I  neither  received 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  39 

it  of  man,  neither  was  I  taught  it,  but  by  tlie  revelation 
of  Jesus  Christ.'  "  ' 

Every  true  minister  has  these  periods  of  special  power 
and  spiritual  light  in  speaking  the  Word  ;  but  this  par- 
allelism should  not  be  pressed  too  far  or  it  becomes 
fanaticism. 

In  this  connection,  and  under  this  head  of  "  prophet," 
we  might  mention  other  offices  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
or,  more  properly,  ja-p/c/fa-ra  (for  none  of  vthese  were 
permanent  ofifices),  which  were  also  of  an  extraordinary 
character. 

Some  of  them  are  enumerated  in  i  Cor.  12  :  28  :  "  And 
God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church,  first  apostles,  secondly 
prophets,  thirdly  teachers,  after  that  miracles,  then  gifts 
of  healing,  helps  in   government,  diversities  of  tongues." 

Leaving,  then,  the  text  from  Ephesians  for  a  moment, 
we  will  take  up  this  passage,  and  will  look  first  at  the 
name  vAvvajxeii — lit.  "powers,"  trans.  "  g,fter  that 
miracles"  —  the   abstract   for   the    concrete. 

Avvafieic 

The  same  office,  or  gift,  is  referred  to  in  the 
tenth  verse  —  aXXo)  de  evspj/y/xara  dvvajxscov  —  "to 
another,  working  of  miracles."  It  seems  as  if  God,  in 
His  resolve  that  His  "  Word  "  should  take  root  and  pre- 
vail, imparted  to  common  men,  not  to  apostles  only,  \j 
miraculous  powers  ;  and  this  is  no  more  unreasonable  or 
impossible  than  that  Christ  himself  should  confirm  his 
words  by  signs  following,  i.e.,  miracles.  He  extended 
his  miraculous  powers  to  his  Church,  for  that  Church 
must  and  should  prevail.  The  Roman  Church  claims  the 
continuance  of  supernatural  and  even  miraculous  gifts  in 
the   ministry  ;  but  let   us  look   at  this   point   more   care- 


'  Philip's  "Life  of  Bunyan." 


/ 


40  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

fully.  There  are  five  special  reasons  upon  which  an 
argument  may  be  based  for  the  discontinuance  of  miracu- 
lous gifts  in  the  Cliristian  ministry  and  Church. 

I.  Such  a  system  of  miraculous  manifestation,  reason- 
ing from  the  true  nature  of  a  miracle,  is  now  apparently 
unnecessary.  Neander  says,  speaking  of  the  use  of 
miracles  :  "  Events,  however,  thus  simply  inexplicable 
and  even  acknowledged  to  be  so,  are  not  miracles,  unless 
they  bear  upon  religious  interests."  '  Again  he  says, 
"  Another  element  (of  a  miracle)  is,  that  the  divine  power 
in  the  phenomenon  itself  shall  reveal  it  to  our  religious 
consciousness  as  a  distinctive  sign  of  a  new  divine  com- 
munication, transcending  the  natural  progress  and  powers 
of  humanity,  and  designed  to  raise  it  to  a  position  higher 
than  its  originally  created  powers  could  reach."  *  Still 
more  pointedly  he  says  :  "  But  miracles  considered  as 
signs  of  the  divinity  revealed  in  a  world  of  sense,  cannot 
as  such  be  considered  apart  from  their  connection  with 
the  whole  revelation  of  God.  Their  essential  nature  is 
to  be  discovered,  not  by  viewing  them  as  isolated  exhibi- 
tions of  divine  power,  but  as  elements  of  his  revelation 
as  a  whole,  in  the  harmony  of  his  inseparable  attributes, 
the  holy  love  and  wisdom  appearing  as  much  as  the 
omnipotence." 

These  miraculous  gifts  were  essential  in  order  to 
authenticate  a  new  revelation  ;  to  indorse  the  divine  mis- 
sion of  Christ  by  showing  that  his  works  as  well  as  his 
words  displayed  a  new  exhibition  of  God  ;  that  where 
God  appeared  the  manifestation  of  supernatural  power 
in  nature  was  the  consequence.  This  power  was  con- 
tinued so  long  as  the  truth  was  being  established,  and 
then   ceased.      The   earliest   apostles    and    preachers    of 


'  "  Life  of  Christ,"  p.  128.  2  Id.,  p.  129. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  41 

Christ  were  endowed  with  miraculous  gifts,  "  in  order 
thus  to  invest  them  with  legitimate  authority  before  men 
as  unerring  instruments  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  as  teachers 
of  the  absolute  truth."  *  The  truth  thus  introduced 
speaks  for  itself.  The  preaching  of  Christ  is  called  "  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation  ;"  and  the  simple  truth 
accompahied  by  the  Divine  Spirit  is  sufficient. 

2.  It  is  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  through  the 
introduction  of  the  Word  of  God  a  superior  light  has 
been  spread  over  the  world.  There  is  not  that  gross 
darkness  to  be  expelled  which  existed  at  the  introduction 
of  Christian  truth  ;  the  truth  itself  has  diffused  that  light 
which  at  first  had  to  be  supernaturally  shot  into  the 
minds  of  men. 

3.  The  evidences  advanced  for  alleged  miracles  are  un- 
satisfactory. All  inexplicable  events,  as  Neander  says, 
are  not  miracles,  but  a  miracle  must  have  a  direct  bear- 
ing upon  and  relation  to  some  higher  religious  truth,  and 
every  instance  of  supernatural  impartation  demands 
therefore  a  strict  examination  on  this  ground.  The 
particular  instances  mentioned  will  not  bear  this  test,  or 
may  be  explained  in  natural  ways.  Some  cannot  be 
substantiated  in  facts,  and  there  is  no  positive  proof  given 
in  any  of  them  that  there  was  the  operation  of  super- 
natural power.  Melted  down,  they  leave  little  or  noth- 
ing that  is  substantial. 

4.  The  history  of  the  Church  bears  testimony  against 
the  necessity  of  the  continuance  of  miraculous  powers  in 
its  ministers  and  members.  The  Church  has  thus  far 
lived  and  progressed  without  conscious  dependence  on 
supernatural  manifestation  of  power  while  still  believing 
in  a  supernatural  faith.     Faith  would  not  be  aided  there- 


'  Olshausen,  Comm.  Matt,  i  :  8. 


42  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

fore  by  such  miraculous  powers.  It  would  be  destructive 
of  faith,' did  it  rest  for  its  absolute  foundation  or  evidence, 
on  miracles, 

5.  The  end  has  not  been  brought  about  for  which  the 
miracles  named  are  said  to  have  been  produced.  The 
faith  of  the  Church  has  not  been  increased  by  them,  and 
no  new  truth  has  been  revealed.  The  miracles  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  have  often  ended  in  the  images 
of  the  physical  world  of  the  senses  rather  than  in  the 
realm  of  the  spirit  and  of  moral  truth.  Quakers  who 
have  claimed  to  be  inspired  have  not  developed  any 
higher  truth.  The  rhapsodies  of  the  Irvingites,  however 
sincere  and  eloquent,  have  not  enlightened  the  Church. 
The  pretended  miracles  in  the  great  Irish  revivals,  like 
those  of  the  convulsionists,  of  the  Jansenists  of  Paris,  and 
similar  manifestations  in  our  own  land,  were  doubtless 
cases  of  hysteria,  where,  as  in  a  dream,  the  reasoning 
powers  being  suspended,  the  other  more  impressional 
faculties,  such  as  memory  and  imagination,  were  active. 
The  extraordinary  gifts  of  great  men,  such  as  Luther  and 
Cromwell,  may  be  otherwise  naturally  accounted  for. 
They  undoubtedly  were  instruments  in  God's  hands  for 
grand  purposes  ;  but  the  fallacy  of  the  theory  is,  that  the 
Church  depends  upon  supernatural  gifts  for  its  advance- 
ment in  the  world,  as  it  did  in  a  measure  for  its  introduc- 
tion, and  that  it  does  not  depend  upon  the  steady  influ- 
ence going  forth  from  the  abiding  spirit  of  Christ  in  his 
Word  and  Church.  The  early  testimony  of  Chrysostom 
upon  this  point  is  valuable.  At  the  beginning  of  his 
XXIXth  Homily  upon  First  Corinthians  he  says,  "  the 
miraculous  gifts  are  no  more."  The  simple  reason  he 
gives  for  this  is,  that  the  circumstances  of  the  times  were 
changed.  When  men  were  converted  out  of  rank 
heathenism,  in  order  that  they  might  know  the  truth, 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  43 

and  teach  it  to  others,  and  confirm  it  by  their  works, 
they  were  straightway  endowed  with  supernatural 
powers  ;  and  they  had  to  be  possessed  of  these  powers 
to  contend  with  the  pretended  miraculous  powers  of  the 
heathen,  soothsayers.  So  long  as  Christianity  had  to 
encounter  the  reign  of  devils  on  earth,  Chrysostom  says, 
its  miraculous  gifts  were  continued.  Olshausen's  opinion 
is,  that  miraculous  gifts  lasted,  although  gradually 
diminishing,  until  the  foundation  of  the  Church  had  been 
completed  ' — perhaps  until  the  end  of  the  third  century,  , 
when  Christianity  broke  down  the  power  of  heathendom. 
The  first  planting  and  propagation  of  the  Word  required 
miraculous  power  ;  it  was,  as  it  were,  a  complete  revolu- 
tionizing of  nature  ;  but,  when  once  planted,  the  truth, 
ever  potent  and  wonder-working,  is  able  to  win  its  own 
way  and  to  make  men  free. 

/"     Xapifffjiara  iafiarcov — "  gifts  of   healing" — and   ytvyj 
yXGD(3(j(^v — "  diversities  of  tongues. "     These     Xaptauara 
belong  to    the    same    class   of    supernatural       la/idruv. 
powers,  which   may   have  extended  to    rais-  ^'^v??  yXucyaQv. 
ing    the    dead.      Chrysostom    thinks    that    the    "  gift    of 
tongues"    was  the   most   useful  and  largely  bestowed  of 
the  miraculous  gifts,  and,  at   the  same   time,  it   became 
the    greatest    cause    of    divisions.''       Whether     we    look 
upon    it    as    an    ability    to    speak    new    and    unacquired 
languages,  or  to  speak  in   an  unknown   tongue,  as  by  an  \/ 
immediate   revelation,  which   was   probably   the   fact,    it 
seemed  to  be  a  distinguished  gift,  and  one  highly  coveted. 
The  Romish  Church   claim  this   gift   in  the   first  sense  as 
still   residing  in   their  Church,  and   they  assert   that    St. 
Francis  Xavier  possessed   it  ;  but,  if  we  mistake   not,  he 


'  Commentary  on  Matt.  8  :  r.  ^  Homily  XXIX. 


44  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

did  not  claim  it  for  himself.  Yet,  in  some  modified 
sense,  we  might  say,  especially  in  relation  to  the  mis- 
sionary operations  of  the  Church,  that  both  of  these  gifts 
are  even  now  needful. 

This  subject  of  miraculous  ministerial  gifts  brings  be- 
fore us,  I.  The  wonderful  spiritual  resurrection  at  the 
period  of  the  introduction  of  Christianity,  when  powers 
of  light  strove  against  powers  of  darkness,  and  holy 
oracles  and  tongues  contended  against  unholy  oracles  ; 
when  the  whole  spiritual  world,  good  and  evil,  was 
moved  to  its  profoundest  depths  and  revealed  itself  by  a 
direct  projection  of  its  powers  upon  the  outward  world. 
2.  The  profound  darkness  into  which  the  world  had 
sunk  at  the  coming  of  Christ,  when  it  reached  its  lowest 
point  of  ungodliness.  Evil  had  come  to  its  utmost 
power  in  the  world,  and  Christ  appeared  in  the  fulness  of 
time  ;  there  was  an  utter  need  of  the  manifestation  of 
God.  3.  The  worth  which  God  puts  upon  the  truth  of 
Christ  ;  that  it  must  be  pushed  forward  into  the  world, 
even  if  it  overrides  the  laws  of  nature.  This  should  make 
ministers  feel  the  worth  of  the  gospel  they  preach,  and 
the  interest  God  has  in  its  triumph. 

We  have  found,  in  the  passage  from  Corinthians  on 
which  we  have  been  commenting,  and  also  in  the  tenth 
verse  of  the  same  chapter,  that,  in  order  of  rank  or 
place,  "  miraculous  gifts"  are  mentioned  after  the  simple 
ofTfi.ce  of  "  teacher,"  with  the  single  exception  of  the  ex- 
traordinary office  of  "  apostle,"  which  combined  both.  In 
fact,  in  both  of  these  passages  from  Ephesians  and  Corin- 
thians, there  are  set  before  us  the  "gifts"  rather  than 
the  "  offices"  of  the  ministry.  The  office  of  "  teacher" 
or  "  pastor"- — neither  the  highest  nor  the  lowest  in  the 
series — would  seem,  from  other  sources  of  proof,  to  be 
the  one  which  remains  as  the  regular  office  of  the  minis- 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  45 

try.  Of  the  mne  "  charismata,"  this  one  alone  is  left, 
and  absorbs  the  rest  ;  the  more  awful  and  supernatural 
light  of  "  apostle"  and  "  prophet"  has  faded  ;  the  more 
dazzling  flash  of  "  miracles"  has  ceased  ;  and  there  has 
been  left  the  plain,  simple,  ordinary,  but  no  less  divinely  1 
instituted,  office  of  the  Christian  "  pastor,"  shining,  like 
the  light  of  common  day,  serenely  in  the  Church. 

Before,  however,  taking  up  the  title  of  "  pastor,"  and 
other  more  ordinary  titles,  we  would  say  a  single  word 
more  upon  the  remaining  title  mentioned  in  the  passage 
from  Corinthians. 

^AvTiX7ppei?,  7iv/3spv7jffsi? — lit.  "  helps,"  "  governors." 
This,  probably,  was  also  an  extraordinary  office,  or  gift, 
and  refers  to  men  of  special  influence,  social 
standing,  and  weight  of  character,  who  were  ^ 
taken  into  temporary  power  to  aid  the  apos- 
tles and  early  pastors  in  ruling  the  Church  during  its 
formative,  unsettled  period.  These  "  helps  in  govern- 
ment" were  not,  probably,  the  same  as  those  referred  to 
in  other  places  as  "  having  the  government  over  the 
Church" — such  as  "  elders,"  "  bishops,"  etc.  ;  but  they 
were  temporary  rulers  and  leading  men,  throwing  their 
controlling  weight  of  authority  and  influence  into  the 
early  struggles  of  the  Church,  against  the  anarchy,  evil, 
and  disorderly  influences  around  and  within.  They  were 
like  the  seniores plebis\Vi\\\Q  African  Church  of  the  fourth 
and  fifth  centuries,  who  "  were  not  clergymen,  but  civil 
personages,  and  other  prominent  members  of  the  congre- 
gation.' 

We  now  return  to  the  original  passage  in  Ephesians.  In 
the  place  next  after  "  prophets,"  we  have  "  evangelists." 


'  Schaff' s  "  History  of  Christian  Church,"  v.  ii.,  p.  258, 


46  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

y  Evayye\iaTi]<S.  This  title  is  found  three  times  in  the 
Scriptures — in  Acts  21  :  8,  where  Philip  the  deacon  is 
also  called  an  "  evangelist  ;"  in  2  Tim.  4  :  5, 
when  Timothy  is  exhorted  to  do  the  work 
of  an  evangelist  ;"  and  in  the  passage  we  are  now 
commenting  upon — Eph.  4:11.  This  title  evidently  re- 
fers to  those  sent  forth  by  the  apostles,  and  endowed 
with  their  authority,  to  publish  the  "  evangel"  or  "  glad 
tidings"  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  to  ordain  ofificers 
and  teachers  of  the  infant  churches  ;  they  were  in  some 
sense  superior  to  the  ordinary  "pastor,"  they  caught 
light  from  the  "apostles,"  and  they  formed,  also,  we 
think,  an  extraordinary  office  belonging  to  the  needs  of 
that  early  period  ;  being,  as  it  were,  a  kind  of  extension 
of  the  apostolic  office,  doing  that  publishing  and  planting 
work,  that  breaking  of  new  ground,  which  was  the 
apostles'  peculiar  business  ;  it  was  a  multiplication  of  the 
apostles,  since  they  could  not  be  everywhere.  If  any, 
therefore,  deserve  to  be  considered  as  successors  of  the 
apostles,  it  was  the  first  "  evangelists."  The  svayyiXiov 
itself  was  a  new  thing,  as  the  word  shows  ;  and  the 
"  evangelists"  were  the  first  heralds  of  this  good  news  ; 
their  work  was  almost  wholly  a  missionary  work.  They 
blew  the  trumpet  to  announce  the  coming  of  the  organ- 
ized host.  But  when  Christianity  was  once  planted,  and 
some  permanent  growth  in  knowledge  and  faith  was  at- 
tained, the  office  of  the  "  evangelist"  ceased  ;  and  it  did 
not  continue  to  be  part  and  parcel  of  the  regular  working 
system  of  the  established  Christian  Church.  Neander 
says  ("  Planting  and  Training,"  p.  94),  "  According  to 
the  original  Christian  phraseology,  the  term  could  only 
denote  one  whose  calling  it  was  to  publish  the  doctrine 
of  salvation  to  men,  and  thereby  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  the  Christian  Church  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  pastor  or 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  47 

teacher  presupposed  faith  in  the  doctrine  of  salvation, 
and  a  Church  already  founded,  and  employed  himself  in 
the  further  training  in  Christian  knowledge." 

The  oldest  commentators  generally  agree  that  the 
office  of  "  evangelist"  belonged  to  the  period  of  inaugu- 
rating Christianity,  and  passed  away  as  a  special  office 
with  that  period. 

Some  of  the  apostles  themselves  did  the  work  of 
"  evangelists,"  such  as  Paul,  whose  life  was  one  series  of 
missionary  tours  ;  but  there  were  other  "  evangelists" 
besides  the  apostles  ;  and  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that 
long  after  Timothy  was  made  a  "  bishop" — if  he  were 
ever  made  one — he  is  exhorted  by  Paul  to  "do  the  work 
of  an  evangelist,"  as  if  his  dignity  as  "  bishop"  was  not, 
at  least,  superior  to  that  of  "  evangelist  ;"  indeed,  Tim- 
othy and  Titus  were  more  properly  "  evangelists"  than 
"  bishops,"  for  they  made  the  "  bishops,"  or  "  pastors," 
as  the  apostles  did. 

Although  this  was  an  extraordinary  office,  and  although 
it  confuses  our  idea  of  the  ministry  to  consider  it  as 
still  a  regular  office  of  the  Church,  yet  the  "  evangelist" 
element  still  exists  in  the  Christian  Church  and  ministry. 
The  ever  new  proclamation  of  the  gospel  to  the  hea- 
then world  requires  this  work  (Rom.  10  :  14,  15)  ;  and 
some  missionaries,  whose  authority  is  of  weight  in  this 
question,  are,  if  we  mistake  not,  strenuous  upon  the 
point  that  this  office  is  a  regular  office  of  the  Church  ; 
perhaps  it  is  a  regular  work,  rather  than  office.  It  repre- 
sents the  aggressive  spirit  of  Christianity  in  its  assaults 
upon  the  power  of  darkness  at  home  and  abroad.  •  The 
gospel,  as  a  new  thing,  must  still  be  proclaimed  to  vast 
masses  of  ignorant  and  heathen  minds. 

There  is  an  interesting  passage  in  Eusebius's  "  Ecclesi- 
astical  History"   (B.    III.,    c.  37),    which    throws    some 


48  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

light  upon  this  subject,  and  gives  us  his  idea  of  this 
office,  or  work.  He  is  speaking  of  one  Quadratus,  in  the 
reign  of  Trajan,  toward  the  close  of  the  first  century.  He 
calls  him,  and  others  like  him,  "  evangelists,"  and  says 
of  them,  "  For  many  of  the  disciples  at  that  time,  ani- 
mated with  a  more  ardent  love  of  the  divine  Word,  had 
first  fulfilled  the  Saviour's  precept  by  distributing  their 
substance  to  the  needy  ;  afterward  leaving  their  country, 
they  performed  the  office  of  '  evangelists  '  to  those  who 
had  not  yet  learned  the  faith,  while,  with  a  noble  ambi- 
tion to  proclaim  Christ,  they  also  delivered  to  them  the 
books  of  the  holy  Gospels.  After  laying  the  foundations 
of  faith  in  foreign  parts,  as  the  particular  object  of  their 
mission,  and  after  appointing  others  as  shepherds  of  the 
flocks,  and  committing  to  these  the  care  of  those  that 
had  been  recently  introduced,  they  went  again  to  other 
regions  and  nations,  with  the  grace  and  cooperation  of 
God.  The  Holy  Ghost  also  still  wrought  many  wonders 
through  them,  so  that,  as  soon  as  the  gospel  was  heard, 
men  voluntarily,  in  crowds,  and  eagerly,  embraced  the 
true  faith  with  their  whole  m.inds."  We  see  here  that 
the  work  of  the  "  evangelist"  continued  ;  but  it  was 
spoken  of  by  Eusebius  as  something  which  belonged  to 
the  apostolic  epoch  of  the  propagating  and  planting  of 
the  Church.  If,  therefore,  we  use  the  term  or  employ 
the  office  now,  we  think  that  it  should  be  wholly  in  this 
sense  of  a  missionary  work,  of  going  into  new  parts,  and 
proclaiming  new  tidings. 

It  does  not,  therefore,  seem  to  be  advisable  to  regard 
the  "  evangelist"  as  a  separate  office  or  work  distinct 
from  that  of  the  "pastor;"  but  that  one  should  be 
ordained  as  a  regular  minister,  and  then  set  apart,  if 
necessary,  as  Paul  and  Barnabas  were,  to  the  separate 
work  of  evangelization  in  some  particularly  needy  and 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  49 

destitute  field.  Of  course,  necessity  overrides  the  best 
rules  ;  and  there  may  be  cases  where  ministers,  in  every 
ecclesiastical  denomination,  are  set  apart  without  any 
special  church,  or  even  a  special  field,  over  which  they 
are  placed  ;  but  such  cases  are  practically  rare,  and  in 
such  cases  the  pastoral  work — the  care  of  Christ's  Church 
— is  generally  the  future  and  final  aim  ;  for  even  the 
foreign  or  home  missionary  who  goes  forth  into  a  new 
field  as  an  "  evangelist,"  expects  to  gather  a  church  and 
become  its  pastor. 

The  revival  of  this  "  extraordinary  ofifice,"  as  another 
regular  ministerial  title  and  office  at  the  present  day,  is, 
we  think,  unnecessary  ;  it  introduces  confusion  ;  and 
many  have  thereby  crept  into  the  ministry  who  were  in 
no  way  fit  for  it.  It  is  better  to  adhere  to  some  general 
principle  in  this  matter. 

1/    Tovi  dt  Ttoifxeva?  xai  didaGuaXov? — "  and  some  pas- 
tors and  teachers."     These  titles  are  joined  together  as 
if  signifying    nearly    the  same    thing.     The 
jcai       here  is  evidently  not  a  disjunctive     ,  ,  , 

Kai  oioaoKaAovg, 

expressing  dissimilarity,  but  a  simple  con- 
nective of  similar  things.  The  sentence  runs  along  men- 
tioning different  things,  such  as  "apostles,"  "evange- 
lists," etc.,  and  then  says,  "  pastors  and  teachers,"  join- 
ing these  together  in  one  breath,  as  if  they  were  iden- 
tical ;  and  the  absence  of  the  article  before  Si(Sa(TKcx\ov? 
confirms  it.  This  is  the  interpretation  of  Augustine  and 
Jerome,  Erasmus  and  Bengel,  and  of  such  modern  com- 
mentators as  Riickert,  Harless,  Turner,  and  Alford,  who 
consider  the  two  as  synonymous  terms.  Whatever  dis- 
tinction there  is  probably  amounts  to  this — that  in  the 
name  of  "  pastor"  is  contained  something  more  of  the 
administrative  idea  ;  in  that  of  "  teacher,"  more  of  the 


50  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

purely  didactic.  The  fact  that  this  is  the  only  instance 
of  the  use  of  noiixrfv  as  applied  strictly  to  the  ministerial 
office  in  the  Church,  strengthens  the  idea  that  it  is  essen- 
tially the  same  as  didocGna'ko?.  Both  of  these  titles  pre- 
suppose a  church  already  established,  a  faith  already  re- 
ceived. They  signify  the  ordinary  ministry  of  the  regu- 
larly organized  Church,  after  the  extraordinary  planting 
work  of  "  apostles"  and  "  evangelists"  was  accom- 
plished ;  they  permanently  occupy  the  field  ,  the 
churches  were  left  in  the  hands  of  the  "  pastors  and 
teachers  ;"  and  these  two  are  really  one  ministry,  which 
we  now  call  the  pastoral  office.  But  let  us  look  at  this 
title  of  "  pastor"  more  carefully. 

l/'  IIoif.a]y.  This  beautiful  title  of  the  ministerial  office 
is  derived  from  Ttoifxah'Go,  "  to  feed  a  flock,"  and  it  is, 
above  all,  an  affectionate  title,  expressive  of 
the  genuine  spirit  of  Christ,  who  is  "  the 
good  Shepherd,"  i.e.,  "the  true  Shepherd."  It  is  a 
synonym  of  "  teacher."  It  recalls  the  good,  kind,  and 
tender  relations  of  the  true  pastor  and  teacher  to  his 
people  ;  his  love  for  their  souls  ;  his  nourishment  of 
their  minds  and  higher  natures  ;  his  spiritual,  even 
rather  than  official,  relations  to  them.  The  earliest 
representation  of  the  Saviour,  as  is  familiarly  known,  in 
Christian  art,  is  that  of  the  shepherd  bearing  a  lamb  upon 
his  shoulders,  and  it  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  "  Good 
Shepherd  "  of  the  Roman  catacombs  is  represented  as  a 
youth,  or  a  beautiful  youthful  Orpheus  or  Apollo,  follow- 
ing the  artistic  type  of  Greek  mythology,  thus  setting 
forth  not  the  human  but  the  divine  nature  of  Christ,  that 
is  ever  young  and  unchangeable.  The  representation  is 
surrounded  by  a  circle  symbolizing  eternity  and  eternal 
life,  within  which  are  comprehended,  as  in  the  circle  of 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE. 


51 


everlasting  love,  the  shepherd  and  his  flock.  Sheep  and 
goats  feed  upon  his  hand,  follow  the  music  of  his  lyre 
or  pipe,  and  are  borne  upon  his  shoulder  ;  he  is  their 
divine  creator,  guide,  consoler,  and  redeemer.  The 
word  is  also  found  in  the  Old  Testament,  where  it  is 
frequently  applied,  as  in  the  23d  Psalm,  to  God,  as  if  he 
were  the  true  "  pastor,"  who  did  all  things  essential  for 
the  care,  nourishment,  and  salvation  of  his  people.  The 
idea  of  noi}xi]v  is,  (i)  Feeding — he  who  nourishes,  or  in- 
structs souls  in  divine  truth.  "  He  shall  feed  his  flock 
like  a  shepherd."  (2)  Love  or  sympathy.  We  can  have 
little  idea  of  the  relation  between  the  shepherd  and  the 
sheep  in  Eastern  countries  ;  they  know  his  voice,  and 
follow  him  as  by  a  cord  fastened  in  their  deepest  in- 
stincts. The  true  shepherd  is  he  who  thus  lives  always 
with  his  sheep,  and  loves  them.  He  is  no  *'  hireling," 
doing  his  work  for  pay,  but  from  love.  When  a  pastor 
has  this  sympathy  with  and  for  his  people  he  teaches  the 
truth  in  its  power,  and  sets  forth  the  Christian  graces  in 
their  true  beauty.  (3)  Self-sacrifice.  The  Eastern 
shepherd  is  sometimes  called  upon  to  risk  his  life,  and 
even  lay  it  down,  for  his  sheep  ;  the  self-sacrificing  love 
of  Christ  for  men  is  represented  in  this  relationship. 
(4)  Watching,  protecting,  guiding,  ruling.  Thus  Homer 
calls  the  king  "  7toijxi]v  Xa&)v."  It  implies  some 
genuine  authority  to  guide  and  rule  :  in  the  case  of  the 
minister  it  does  not  imply  ruling  or  presiding  over  by 
the  mere  force  of  ecclesiastical  ordination,  or  even  of 
superior  knowledge,  but  more  than  all  by  a  moral  and 
spiritual  right,  as  belonging  to  him  who  is  regularly  ap- 
pointed to  dispense  God's  Word  and  guide  in  spiritual 
things. 

We  esteem,  indeed,  this  authority,  of  the  Christian  pas- 
tor to  be  essentially  of  a  moral  and  spiritual  nature,  or  as 


52  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  legitimate  influence  of  an  appointed  teacher  of  truth, 
who  holds  a  divinely  instituted  office,  and  who  is  him- 
self a  Christ-like  man,  and  he  who  does  his  pastoral  duty 
faithfully  will  have  power  and  authority  enough  ;  and  if 
he  desires  more,  this  would  seem  to  show  the  working  in 
him  of  the  ambitious  principle.  The  apostle  Paul  in 
2  Cor.  I  :  24  says,  "  not  that  we  have  dominion  over  your 
faith  ;"  and  Peter  in  i  Pet.  5  :  3  declares,  "  Feed  the 
flock  of  God  which  is  among  you,  taking  the  oversight 
thereof,  not  by  constraint,  but  willingly  ;  not  for  filthy 
lucre,  but  of  a  ready  mind  ;  neither  as  being  lords  over 
God's  heritage,  but  being  ensamples  to  the  flock."  But 
still,  we  find  that  the  very  term  noifxijv,  which  is  applied 
to  Christ  himself  as  head  of  the  Church,  is  applied  to 
his  minister  ;  it  would  seem,  therefore,  at  least,  to  im- 
ply the  highest  real  authority,  of  whatever  kind  it  may 
be,  which  exists  in  any  officer  of  the  Church.' 

y       AidaGKaXot.      Neander  thinks  that   this   name  might 
have  been  applied  to  any  member  of  the  Church  pecul- 
iarly gifted  to  teach,  whether  minister  or  not.* 

^loaaKOAog. 

It  may  be  true,  as  has  been  before  hinted, 
that  these  names  did  not  all  originally  indicate  separate 
offices,  but  rather  distinctive  gifts,  when  these  gifts  were 
more  needed  than  they  are  now. 

And,  indeed,  all  the  offices  mentioned  in  the  Apostolic 
Church  sprang  immediately  from  the  body  of  the  Church 
itself,  being  developed  naturally  from  the  peculiar  ex- 
igencies of  that  extraordinary  period  ;  as  did,  for  in- 
stance, the  office  of  "  deacon."  The  man  who  was  best 
suited  for  a  particular  service,  whatever  it  might  be,  was 


*  Coleman's  "  Primitive  Christianity,"  p.  135. 

*  "  Planting  and  Training,"  ch.  i.,  p.  36. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  53 

chosen  from  the  whole  number  of  Christian  behevers  ; 
and  yet,  before  the  apostolic  age  was  finished,  there  was 
a  regularly  established  ministry. 

This  term  didocGxakoi  generally  denoted  the  ministry 
of  what  Neander  calls  "  the  internal  guidance  of  the 
word  ;"  or,  as  it  is  written  in  i  Tim.  5  :  17,  who 
"labored  in  word  and  doctrine."  It  contains,  as  does 
Ttoifxrfv,  the  essential  idea  of  the  Christian  ministry, 
which  is  eminently  a  "  ministry  of  the  word  ;"  and  it 
is  employed  in  no  such  connection  as  to  destroy  the 
identity  between  it  and  Ttoi^rjv  as  this  is  set  forth  in 
Eph.  4:11. 

The  "teacher,"  according  to  Neander,  was  he  who 
was  especially  intrusted  with  the  T^oyo?  yvooffeco?,  the 
reflective  and  didactic  quality — the  "  pastor"  with  the 
XoyoS  (}0(pia?,  the  prudential  and  administrative  quality  ;' 
but  these  may  be  both  united  in  one  ministry.  This  calm 
and  noble  "  teaching"  office  is  essential  in  the  Christian 
Church,  and  is  especially  useful  for  edification  ;  and  it  is 
sometimes  lost  sight  of  in  the  idea  of  the  necessity  of 
continual  religious  excitement  to  build  up  the  Church. 

Let  us  now  take  up  the  two  or  three  other  principal 
remaining  names,  or  titles,  applied  to  the  Christian 
ministry  in  the  New  Testament,  which  occur  where  there 
is  evidence  of  an  organization  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
more  formal  and  permanent  than  is  found  in  the  earliest 
New  Testament  records. 

IIpeff/SvTepo?.  This  title,  which  is  used  in  i  Tim. 
5  :  17  ;  Acts    11  :  30-15   passim;   Acts    20  : 

.         ,       UpecjivTepog. 

17  ;    Titus  1:5;    James  5  :  14,  was  simply 

the  transferring  of  the  name  of  the  presiding  officer  or 


'  "  Planting  and  Training,"  ch.  v.,  p. 


54  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

minister  of  the  Jewish  synagogue  to  the  presiding  officer 
of  the  Christian  Church  assembly,  built  upon  the  model 
of  the  synagogue  worship. 

The  chief  idea  of  Ttpeffftvrepo?,  both  in  the  Hebrew 
and  Christian  sense,  was  doubtless  that  of  presiding  or 
ruling  ;  he  was  the  president  of  the  ecclesiastical  assem- 
bly. 

There  were  also  "  teaching  elders,"  as  we  see  in  Titus 
I  :  9  and  i  Tim.  5:17,  who  were  to  be  held  in  special 
honor  ;  so  that,  at  any  rate,  a  Tcpsffftvtepo?  was  no 
higher  office  than  a  6i6aG7iaXoi  or  7toi}.u]v.  "  '  Presby- 
ters,' as  '  bishops,'  were  officers  of  churches,  whether  they 
were  or  were  not  charged  with  the  function  of  preach- 
ing."  *  If  there  was  any  difference  in  rank  or  order,  the 
"  teacher"  or  "  preacher"  came  first.  They  were,  in 
fact,  identical,  as  in  the  passage  in  i  Tim.  5  :  17.  The 
truth  is,  that,  in  a  large  field  of  labor  assigned  to  the 
Christian  presbyters,  one  felt  himself  drawn  more  to  this, 
another  to  that  portion,  since  the  revelation  of  the. Spirit 
was  given  to  each  npoz  to  ffv/^cptpov.  But  Paul  hon- 
ored more  those  elders  who,  together  with  other  duties, 
were  engaged  especially  in  the  instruction  and  comfort 
of  believers  ;  because  the  capacity  for  this  highest  gift  of 
the  presbyteral  office  was  not  found  in  the  same  degree 
in  all.^ 

The  title  or  office  of  Trpsff/SvTspo?  came  into  use,  prob- 
ably, when  the  business  of  the  Church  grew  large  and  its 
details  onerous  to  the  apostles,  just  as  the  deacon's  office 
was  instituted. 

The  idea  of  Ttp^aftvr^po'i  still  remains  in  the  ministry, 
in  the  presiding,  moderating  power  of  the  Christian 
minister,  in  the  exercise  of  the  faculty  of  judgment  in  the 


^  Vinet's  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  30.  -  Lange's  Commentary,  in  loco. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  55 

affairs  of  the  Church,  or  what  Bengcl  calls  " potestatem 
judicandi  in  ccclcsia."  Every  minister  is  the  president 
or  "  ruling  elder"  of  his  church.  The  primitive  "  pres- 
■  byter"  was,  however,  the  child  of  the  Church,  springing 
from  its  body,  and  chosen  by  its  election  ;  he  "  ruled  " 
in  conjunction  with  the  Church,  and  recognized  the  real 
power  to  be  in  the  people  ;  his  authority  was  regulative 
rather  than  strictly  judicial.' 

/  En lG 71071  o?.  This  is  derived  from  iTTiffKeTtrofxai — to 
"  look  after, "  to  "  inspect,"  to  "  oversee."  The  term 
€7ti(jK07ro?  occurs    but   seldom   in   the    New 

'  Ett  i'cr/iOTTOf. 

Testament.  In  i  Pet.  2  :  25  it  is  applied  to 
Christ,  as  "  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls  ;"  and  here  it 
is  coupled  with  noifir^v  as  "pastor."  In  i  Tim.  3  :  2 
it  is  used  in  such  a  sense  as  makes  it  beyond  question 
the  same  with  7tpsaf5vT spa's.  In  Titus  i  :  5,  7  it  is  also 
the  synonym  of  "  elder."  It  is  the  more  purely  Greek 
title  of  "  presbyter,"  and  is  used  uniformly  in  relation  to 
Gentile  churches,  as  a  title  which  they  could  better 
understand  than  the  Jewish  one  of  TrpsffpuTepoS.  In 
Acts  20  :  17,  28,  it  is  used  interchangeably  with  the 
ofifice  of  7tpe(j(3vrepoS.  Here  the  apostle  tells  the 
"  presbyters"  of  the  church  at  Ephesus  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  had  made  them  "  bishops"  over  the  flock — to 
feed,  to  act  the  "  pastor"  {7toijj.aiveiv)  to  the  Church  of 
God  ;  and  this  last  is  also  nearly  equivalent  to 
diSaffKaXo?,  or  teacher,  so  that  we  have  the  four  terms 
together  here  as  nearly,  if  not  quite,  identical.  The 
essential  identity  of  "  bishop"  and  "  presbyter"  is  in 
like  manner  seen  in  i  Pet.  5:1,2,  where  the  use  of  the 
verb  €7nffH07reoo  to  signify   "acting  as  presbyter"   con- 


'  Coleman's  "  Primitive  Christianity,"  on  this  title. 


56  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

firms  this  identity.  Jerome,  in  a  well-known  passage, 
says,  ' '  apiid  veteres  iidcm  episcopi  et  presbyteri,  quia  illud 
nomen  dignitatis  est,  hoc  (Ztatis."  '  Chrysostom  affirms 
the  identity  of  the  two,  saying  that  there  were  many 
"bishops,"  i.e.  "presbyters,"  in  the  same  church. 
Augustine,  in  his  day,  when  the  Church  had  become 
thoroughly  episcopal,  remarks  thus  upon  this  point  : 
"  The  office  of  '  bishop  '  is  above  the  office  of  '  pres- 
byter,* not  by  the  authority  of  Scripture,  but  after  the 
names  of  honor  which  the  custom  of  the  Church  hath  now 
obtained."  Neander  regards  the  two  titles  as  convertible 
terms.  * 

The  office  of  inianonoi  in  the  Apostolic  Church  implied 
no  hierarchical  dignity  ;  '  we  never  find  it  confounded 
with  the  office  of  the  apostles.  It  signifies  the  "  spiritual 
superintendent"  or  "  overseer"  of  a  religious  body  or 
church  ;  or,  possibly,  when  Gentile  churches  were  begin- 
ning to  be  formed  in  great  numbers,  and  the  larger  Gen- 
tile element  was  making  itself  felt,  men  were  appointed  to 
"  supervise"  the  organization  of  these  Gentile  churches, 
to  settle  them  into  their  established  forms  and  working. 

Whately,  in  his  "  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  says  :  "  Again, 
it  seems  to  have  been  at  least  the  general,  if  not  the 
universal,  practice  of  the  apostles  to  appoint  over  each 
separate  church  a  single  individual  as  a  chief  governor, 
under  the  title  of  *  angel  '  {i.e.  legate  from  the  apostles) 
or  '  bishop  '  {i.e.  superintendent  or  overseer).  A  church 
and  a  diocese  seem  to  have  been  for  a  considerable  time 
coextensive  and    identical."^      The  original   "bishop" 


'  Epist.  ad  Oceanum  ;  also  Comment,  ad  Tit.  i  :  7. 
''Meander's  "Planting  and  Training,"    B.   III.,  p.   92.     See  also  De 
Pressense's  "  Early  Years  of  Christianity,"  p.  348. 
^  Hase's  "  Hist,  of  Chr.  Ch.,"  §  42. 
■*  P.  131,  Lon.  ed. 


THE  PASTORAL   OFFICE. 


SI 


• 


was,  we  believe,  the  spiritual  guide  or  teacher  of  one 
local  church — in  fact,  its  "pastor."  Diocesan  episco- 
pacy, or  the  system  of  the  bishopric  of  a  plurality  of 
churches  or  of  a  district,  though,  indeed,  it  began  to  ap- 
pear as  early  as  the  second  century,  and  was  fully  estab- 
lished in  Cyprian's  time,  is  held  by  Whately  to  be  an 
essential  departure  from  the  original  New  Testament 
ofifice  of  "  bishop  ;"  and  this  is  also  the  freely-expressed 
opinion  of  Dr.  Barrow  and  many  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  English  Established  Church  in  past  and 
present  times. 

The  scriptural  ofifice  of  iniaKonoi,  like  that  of 
TtpEG^vrepoi,  was  not  the  earliest  ofifice  or  title  of  the 
ministry,  but  sprang  up  in  the  later  days  of  the  apostles, 
through  a  necessity  for  a  stronger  administration  or 
supervision  of  the  Church  ;  as  Vinet  says,  "  It  was  an 
expedient,  not  an  institution."  '  It  certainly  implied  no 
exclusive  and  permanent  order  that  disturbed  and 
destroyed  the  parity  of  the  ministry,  and  that  assumed 
apostolical  authority. 

These  New  Testament  titles  of  iTciGKonoi,    noifxrjVj 
didaaxaXo?,  and  TtpeajSvTspo?,  as  has  been  hinted,  stand 
for    essentially   the    same    office,    and    are 
employed  as  convertible  terms.     We    have     'EiTiaKOTTog, 
seen  that  "  pastor"  and  "teacher,"  in  Eph.  """'f^"'  '5"^«'^««- 

1       •  ,  .-11  ^-11      ^~og,  npeaiivTEpog, 

4:11,  designate,  grammatically,  essentially  ,.^' 

^  °  '  ^  •'*  ^      convertible 

the  same  office  ;  and  they  are  not  used   in        terms, 
other  places  in  such  a  way  as  to  render  a  dis- 
tinction  necessary.      We  have  seen,   also,    that    "pres- 
byter," in  those  cases  where  it  applies  to  an  officer  of  the 
Christian  Church,  as  far  as  the  Scripture  shows,  is  spoken 


'  "  Pas.  Theol,"  p.  30. 


$S  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

of  as  the  only  officer  of  the  Church  besides  "  deacons." 
If  so,  then  "  presbyter"  is  an  identical  of^ce  with  "  pas- 
tor and  teacher,"  which  terms  are  always  applied  to  the 
permanent  chief  officer  of  the  church.  We  have  seen, 
also,  that  "  bishop"  is  used  as  a  convertible  term  with 
"presbyter;"  things,  then,  that  are  equal  to  the  same 
thing  are  equal  to  one  another.  Nor  is  there  anything 
in  the  duties  or  requirements  of  any  of  these  to  separate 
it  from  the  rest.  The  qualifications  of  "  elders  and 
bishops"  are  given  in  two  elaborate  passages — in  Tit. 
I  :  6-IO  and  i  Tim.  3  :  2-7  ;  and  they  are  almost  ver- 
bally identical. 

Neither  can  it  be  proved,  we  think,  from  the  New 
Testament  that  a  higher  official  standing  was  assigned  to 
one  than  to  another.  There  were,  doubtless,  degrees  of 
dignity  among  the  primitive  ministers  of  the  gospel,  aris- 
ing from  age,  priority  of  call,  distinguished  services,  or 
other  circumstances,  just  as  there  are  now  among  our 
own  venerated  ministers  and  honored  missionaries. 
Thus  the  apostles  had  a  peculiar  rank  and  authority  ;  and 
among  them  James,  as  surviving  the  rest,  and  continuing 
in  Jerusalem,  gathered  to  himself  the  natural  and  con- 
fessed right  of  presidency  ;  but  there  is  no  proof  of  any 
real  inequality,  or  absolute  want  of  identity,  in  these 
titles  of  the  ministerial  office,  or  anything  belonging  to 
one  of  them,  which  could  not  and  should  not  be  exer- 
cised by  any  other  ;  so  that  we  conclude  that  these  titles 
all  denote  the  ordinary  office  of  the  ministry,  as  different 
•phases  of  one  office,  viewing  it  from  different  historical 
points  of  view.  Undoubtedly  they  convey  different  and 
distinct  ideas,  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  indicate  separate 
offices,  and  they  might  all  apply  to  one  office.  Calvin 
adheres  to  this  view  in  "  Institutes,"  B.  IV.,  chap.  iii. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  59 

A  few  remaining  titles  are  given,  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, to  the  ministerial  work  ;  which,  however,  imply 
certain  varied  ideas  or  characteristic  features  of  the 
work,  rather  than  special  and  distinct  ministerial  func- 
tions. 

\/      TJpsfflSsvQD — "  to  act   as  ambassador"   of  Jesus  Christ, 
which  gives  a  high  idea  of  the  true  greatness 

lipealSsvu. 

and  dignity  of  the  pastoral  office. 

U         OiKOvoj.ioS — "  steward,"  as  in  i  Cor.  4  :  2 — "  stewards 
of  the  mysteries  of  God  " — a  sublime  trust.        olKovS^uog. 

'Ayys'So? — "  angel,"  "  legate,"  "  proclaimer"  —  the 
one  who  leads  the  worship  of  the  church.  Massillon,  in 
his  "  Charge  I.,"  says,  "  A  pastor  is  charged 
with  the  welfare  of  God  s  people  ;  he  is  one 
of  those  messengers  who  are  continually  ascending  and 
descending  the  ladder  of  Jacob  :  he  descends  from  it  in 
order  that  he  may  acquaint  himself  with  the  necessities 
of  the  Church  ;  he  ascends  by  prayer,  that  he  may  bear 
them  before  the  throne  of  God,  and  open  the  bosom  of 
inexhaustible  compassion  upon  the  wants  of  the  gospel 
fold."  Massillon  elsewhere  speaks  of  pastors  as  the 
"  visible  angels"  appointed  to  conduct  the  souls  of  men 
to  heaven. 

\/        ^vvepyoi  Qsov — "  laborer   together  with 

_      ,    , ,  Zvvepyor  Qeov. 

God. 


u 


ApxithctGov — "  architect"    or    "  builder" — one     who 
superintends  the  ordering  or  building  of  the 
Church  of  God. 


6o  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

IrpariuTTig  ^tpattOOTfJ'S    h]GOV   XpiGTOV — "  SOldlcr  of 

'IncQv  Xpiarov.  Jesus  Christ. " 

These  names,  and  others  similar  to  them,  speak  for 
themselves,  and  they  set  before  us  the  greatness  and 
dignity  of  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

The  pastoral    office    is    also  called,   in   2   Cor.   4  :  i, 

diauoviav — translated   in   our  version  "  ministry, "  from 

which  comes  our  common  term  "  ministry.'* 

AiaKOVia,  •' 

It  means,  literally,  "waiting  upon,"  or 
"  service,"  and  is  used  here  in  a  more  general  sense  of 
the  word,  and  not  for  the  office  of  "  deacon."  Perhaps 
the  use  of  diduovos  in  i  Tim.  3  :  8-13  applies  also  to  the 
ministerial  office  ;  but  this  is  doubtful.  At  all  events, 
the  idea  of  "  serving"  or  "  waiting  upon"  the  Church, 
which  is  the  main  idea,  is  an  important  one  ;  the  minister 
is  "  the  servant  of  all  for  Jesus'  sake."  Vinet  says  that 
"  the  word  deacon  has  received  a  special  meaning,  but  it 
was  at  first  general  ;  and  it  designated  without  distinc- 
tion any  minister  or  servant  of  the  gospel,  as  in  i  Cor. 
3  :  5  ;  2  Cor.  6  :  ^  ;  Eph.  3:7;!  Tim.  i  :  12  ;  Col. 
I  :  23.' 

From  this  survey  of  the  scriptural  titles,  functions, 
ideas,  and  facts  that  enter  into  the  original  scriptural  or 
divine  institution  of  the  pastoral  office,  we  are  forced  to 
the  conclusion,  which,  in  fact,  has  been  suggested  all 
along,  that  while  a  regular  and  permanent  office  of  the 
Christian  ministry  was  divinely  instituted,  and  its  funda- 
mental principles  were  clearly  laid  down  for  all  time,  yet 
its  outward  historical  form  was  left  in  a  great  measure  to 


'  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  28. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  6 1 

be  decided  upon  and  shaped  by  the  wisdom  of  the 
Church,  according  to  the  pressure  of  circumstances. 
"  As  to  doctrine,  the  apostles,  from  the  beginning,  were 
of  the  same  mind,  and  they  have  told  us  everything.  It 
is  not  the  same  with  institutions  ;  these  have  been  pro- 
vided little  by  little,  as  the  want  of  them  has  been  felt."  ' 
We  are  not  so  sectarian  as  to  suppose  that  one  form 
of  church  polity  (though  we  may  hold  it  to  be,  on  the 
whole,  the  most  scriptural)  is  so  perfect  that  it  involves 
an  essential  error  to  adopt  another  form  of  church  polity  ; 
and  we  believe  that  the  common  spiritual  truth  which  is 
thus  enshrined,  in  our  imperfect  humanity,  may  develop 
itself  under  many  varying  outward  forms. 

We  are  strengthened  in  this  view  by  the  spirit  of  the 
following  comprehensive  remarks  upon  scriptural  omis- 
sions, from  Whately's  "  Kingdom  of  Christ,"  p.  'j'j,  Lon. 
ed.  : 

"  No  such  thing  is  to  be  found  in  our  Scriptures  as  a 
catechism,  or  regular  elementary  introduction  to  the 
Christian  religion  ;  nor  do  they  furnish  us  with  anything 
of  the  nature  of  a  systematic  creed,  set  of  articles,  con- 
fession of  faith,  or  whatever  other  name  one  may  desig- 
nate a  regular,  complete  compendium  of  Christian  doc- 
trines ;  nor,  again,  do  they  supply  us  with  a  liturgy  for 
ordinary  public  worship,  or  with  forms  of  administering 
the  sacraments,  or  for  conferring  holy  orders  ;  nor  even 
do  they  give  any  precise  directions  as  to  these  and  other 
ecclesiastical  matters,  or  anything  that  at  all  corresponds 
to  a  rubric  or  set  of  canons.  Now,  these  omissions  pre- 
sent a  complete  moral  demonstration  that  the  apostles 
and  their  followers  must  have  been  supernaturally  with- 
held  from  recording  a  great  part  of  the  institutions,  in- 


'  Vinet's  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  42. 


62  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

structions,  and  regulations,  which  must,  in  point  of  fact, 
have  proceeded  from  them  ;  withheld  on  purpose  that 
the  other  churches,  in  other  ages  and  regions,  might  not 
be  led  to  consider  themselves  bound  to  adhere  to  the 
several  formularies,  customs,  and  rules  that  were  of  local 
and  temporary  appointment,  but  might  be  left  to  their 
own  discretion  in  matters  in  which  it  seemed  best  to 
Divine  Wisdom  that  they  should  be  so  left." 

Whately,  in  his  defence  of  Episcopacy,  takes  the  ground 
that  there  is  nothing  in  this  ecclesiastical  system  contrary 
to  Scripture  ;  and  on  the  consideration  that  the  matter  of 
church  form  was  left  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Church,  and 
was  a  secondary  question,  he  thinks  that  the  Episcopal 
form  is  the  best,  and  historically  the  oldest.  While  thus 
not  controverting  the  right  of  believers  to  maintain 
different  views  of  church  policy,  and  of  the  peculiar  form 
of  the  pastoral  ofifice  in  its  outward  aspects,  others  hold 
to  the  simpler  idea  of  the  ministry  as  more  accordant 
with  the  genius  of  the  gospel,  and  that  not  only  a 
ministry  is  distinctly  established  in  the  Scriptures  and 
rooted  in  the  divine  institution,  but  that  the  regular  and 
true  Christian  "  pastor"  may  and  should  unite  in  him- 
self all  the  titles,  the  virtues,  the  duties,  the  gifts,  and 
the  rights  that  are  bestowed  in  the  entire  New  Testa- 
ment upon  this  divinely  established  office.  . 

Sec.  4.   Idea  of  the  Pastoral  Office. 

There  arc  certain  prevalent  ideas  of  the  pastoral  ofifice 
which  we  esteem  to  be  erroneous  and  injurious,  but 
which,  nevertheless,  are  held  by  large  numbers  ;  and  let 
us  notice  some  of  the  principal  of  these  before  endeavor- 
ing to  set  forth  the  true  idea  of  the  Christian  ministry. 

I.   That   it   forms  a    distinct    ecclesiastical  order,     or 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  d-^ 

sacerdotal  caste,  in  the  Christian  Church.     While  we  do 

not  deny  that  the  individual  minister  may 

have  his  own  proper  official  rights  and  honor-       '  °  ^" 

.  .        .     ecclesiastical 

able  place  m  the  Church,  yet  we  maintain        n  d  r 

that  the  ministers  of  the  Church,  taken  to- 
gether as  a  body,  do  not  form  a  separate  order,  or  a  dis- 
tinct superior  class,  in  the  Church.  That  the  niinistiy  is 
not  thus  an  exclusive  order,  further  than  any  institution, 
divinely  instituted  for  a  special  work,  constitutes  an 
order,  might  be  proved,  {a)  From  Scripture,  from  a  class 
of  passages  similar  to  the  one  in  2  Cor.  4:5,"  For  we 
preach  not  ourselves,  but  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord  ;  and 
ourselves  your  servants  for  Jesus'  sake  ;"  from  the  ex- 
amples of  the  apostles  ;  from  the  essential  unity  of  the 
Church  and  of  church  members  ;  and,  above  all,  from 
the  example  of  Christ,  the  antitype  of  pastors,  as  in  Matt. 
20  :  27  ;  Phil.  2:7;  and  from  the  lessons  of  Christ's 
humility,  as  when  he  washed  the  feet  of  his  disciples. 
{b)  From  a  Christianized  reason.  Vinet  compares  minis- 
ters to  officers  in  an  army.'  They  have  a  certain  official 
pre-eminence,  it  is  true,  conferred  on  them  ;  but  the  cap- 
tains by  themselves  do  not  form  a  peculiar  class  or  order, 
nor  do  the  colonels,  nor  do  the  generals  ;  they  are  all 
soldiers  ;  all  rise  from  the  bosom  of  the  army,  being 
made  offi.cers  only  for  greater  service  and  division  of 
labor,  and  not  to  create  a  new  peculiar  body  or  order  of 
men.  This  illustration,  it  must  be  said,  is  drawn  from 
an  ideal  army,  rather  than  from  one  of  the  common  char- 
acter of  armies.  Yet  the  French  or  Napoleonic  idea  of 
the  army — that  every  member,  through  capacity  and  dis- 
tinguished conduct,  is  eligible  to  the  highest  office,  and 
that  the  officers  are  taken  thus  from  the  body  of  the 


'  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  46. 


64  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

army — is  the  main  idea  of  the  illustration.  Vinet  again 
says,  more  explicitly,  "The  ministry  does  not  form  a 
caste.  It  does  not  form  a  body,  except  accidentally. 
The  accident  is  certainly  frequent,  but  it  still  remains  an 
accident.  Existence  as  a  body  is  not  essential  to  the 
ministry.  To  conclude  in  a  word,  the  ecclesiastical 
ministry  is  a  consecration,  made  under  conditions,  of  par- 
ticular members  of  a  Christian  flock,  to  be  occupied 
specially,  but  not  to  the  exclusion  of  others,  in  the 
administration  of  worship  and  care  of  souls.  A  religious 
society  may,  moreover,  direct  that  the  solemnities  which 
bring  it  together  shall  be  presided  over  exclusively  by 
those  special  men  whom  it  calls  ministers  or  pastors."  * 

To  endeavor  to  create  this  ministerial  order  or  caste, 
toward  which  some  seem  to  be  always  edging,  is  there- 
fore contrary  to  a  sound  Christian  instinct,  and  is  beneath 
the  true  Christian  idea  of  the  ministry.  The  Church  was 
made  before  its  ministry  :  ministers  are  its  servants, 
endowed  by  it  with  authority  to  serve.  The  ministry  is 
a  distinct  and  permanent  office  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
— that  we  hold — but  we  do  not  believe  that  ministers  of 
and  by  themselves  form  any  distinct  and  superior  order 
in  the  Church.  As  our  office  is  divinely  instituted  and 
guided,  let  us  honor  it  and  magnify  it  ;  but  we  shall  do 
this  best  not  by  attempting  to  give  it  a  merely  human 
rank,  but  by  preserving  the  pure  and  consecrated  spirit 
which  characterized  its  original  and  divine  institution. 
The  true  ground  of  ministerial  precedence  or  dignity  is 
stated  in  i  Thess.  5  :  12,  that  ministers  should  be 
honored  "  for  their  works'  sake."  It  is  a  highly  honor- 
able office  ;  and,  while  it  is  not  an  exclusive  order  in  the 
Church,  yet  the  words  anciently  spoken  to  the  Church 


'  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  50. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  65 

still  remain  obligatory  in  a  true  sense  :  "  Obey  them  that 
have  the  rule  over  you,  and  submit  yourselves,  for  they 
watch  for  your  souls,  as  they  that  must  give  account, 
that  they  may  do  it  with  joy,  and  not  with  grief." 

2.   That  it  is  a  priesthood. 

What  is  a  priest  ?  "  He  is  one  who  stands  as  media- 
tor between  God  and  his  people,  and  bring  the  people 
to  God  by  reason  of  certain  ceremonial  acts 

which  he  performs  for  them,  and  which  they 

^  ■'     priesthood, 

could  not  perform  for    themselves  without 

profanation,  because  they  are  at  a  distance  from  God, 
and  cannot  in  their  own  persons  approach  him."  Chris- 
tianity has  done  away  with  the  need  and  fact  of  such  a 
mediating  priesthood.  The  priestly  idea  of  the  ministry 
arose  in  the  Christian  Church,  first  through  corrupting 
Jewish  teachers  in  the  great  Gentile  cities,  when  the 
power  of  Judaism  was  broken  up  at  home.'  Pagan 
priestly  ideas  helped  to  increase  the  error;  and  these 
ideas,  growing  stronger  and  stronger  for  centuries,  re- 
ceived their  final  and  perfect  crystallization  in  the  Papal 
hierarchical  system  of  priesthood,  and  formally,  in  the 
twenty-third  session  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  when  it  was 
decreed  that  "  if  any  one  shall  say  that  there  is  not  in 
the  New  Testament  a  visible  and  external  priesthood,  or  'j^ 
that  there  is  no  power  in  it  of  consecrating  and  offering 
the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord,  and  of  remitting  and 
retaining  sins,  but  only  an  office  of  the  bare  ministry  of 
preaching  the  gospel,  or  that  those  who  do  not  preach 
the  gospel  are  not  priests,  let  him  be  anathema."  With- 
out going  to  this  extreme,  other  churches,  which  admit 


'  See  Dr.  Mellor's  "Priesthood  in  the  Light  of  the  New  Testament." 
This  writer  makes  a  strong  argument  to  show  that  the  origin  of  the 
priesthood  in  the  Christian  Church  was  coterminous  with  the  rise  of  the 
post  scriptural  episcopate. 


66  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  hierarchical  element,  have  a  tendency  to  regard  the 
clergy  as  "  the  legitimate  channel  of  communication  with 
God  ;"  as  the  "  depository  of  divine  grace  ;"  as  the  only 
effilacious  administrators  of  the  holy  rites.  In  this  view, 
when  it  is  carried  to  an  extreme,  the  eucharist  becomes  a 
"  sacrifice,"  and  the  minister  the  "  priest  ;"  baptism  is  a 
regenerating  ordinance,  and  the  minister  a  dispenser  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  ;  and  thus,  logically,  he  is  empowered 
with  authority  to  procure  and  proclaim  absolution  of 
sins.  The  use  of  the  term  "priest"  as  applied  to  the 
ministry,  brought  along  with  it  the  idea  of  sacrifice  in  the 
eucharist  ;  but  Justin  Martyr  in  his  day  knew  nothing  of 
this  :  he  spoke  of  him  who  administered  the  rite  as 
"  president  of  the  brethren  (elder)  who  conducts  the  ser- 
vices, who  distributes  the  emblems."  Renan,  in  his  work 
on  the  apostles,  says  :  "  L'c'vcquc,  le preti'c,  comme  Ic  temps 
Ics  a  faits,  ii  cxistaient  pas  cnco7'e,  mats  le  ministre  pas- 
torale ^  cette  mtiine  faniiliarite  des  dines,  en  dehors  des 
liens,  dii  sang,  ctait'dcja  fonde.  Ceci  a  toujojirs  etc  le  don 
special  de  Jesus,  et  comnie  iin  li^ritage  de  lui."  It  was  not 
indeed  until  the  end  of  the  third  century  that  the  title  of 
"  priest"  was  conferred  upon  the  ministry,  and  even 
Cyprian  addresses  in  his  epistles  none  of  his  ministers 
as  priests.  That  wholesale  forgery  called  "  Constitu- 
tions of  the  Holy  Apostles"  greatly  aided  the  growth  of 
the  priestly  mediatorial  idea  ;  while  ten  chapters  of  this 
Avork  are  devoted  to  moral  and  spiritual  duties,  there  are 
sixty-three  on  episcopal  duties  and  seventy-three  on 
clerical  and  priestly  functions.  After  Constantine's  time 
the  hierarchical  theory  rapidly  developed  itself.  But  this 
idea  of  the  priesthood  of  the  Christian  ministry  is  errone- 
ous and  hurtful  :  (i)  Because  it  is  contrary  to  Scripture. 
The  New  Testament  ministry  strove  to  avoid  being  consid- 
ered merely  ceremonial  or  ritual  instruments  ;  Paul  thank- 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  67 

ed  God  that  he  had  baptized  so  few.  While  in  the  Scrip- 
tures all  Christians  are  called  "  a  holy  priesthood" 
through  Christ,  there  is  but  one  passage  in  the  New 
Testament  where  a  Christian  minister  is  called  a  "  priest" 
— in  Rom.  15  :  16  ;  and  here  the  apostle  does  not  call 
himself  a  "  priest,"  but  only  compares  himself  to  the 
Jewish  priesthood,  using  the  term  in  an  illustrative  or 
figurative  sense  :  this  omission  would  seem  to  settle  the 
question.  That  which  is  called  "  the  power  of  the  keys" 
is  a  judicial  attribute  belonging  to  the  whole  Church — 
minister  and  people — rather  than  a  sacerdotal  attribute, 
belonging  exclusively  to  the  ministry.  Pastor  Harms, 
indeed,  held  it  to  be  a  ministerial  function  ;  and  F.  W. 
Robertson  felt  that  once  in  his  life  he  himself  pronounced 
judicial  sentence  upon  a  sinner.  But  the  apostles,  as  in 
Acts  3:12,  indignantly  repelled  the  idea  of  any  peculiar 
or  priestly  sacredness  to  be  ascribed  to  themselves.  (2) 
Because  it  is  derogatory  to  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  it 
diminishes  his  great  and  permanent  work  of  mediation, 
impugns  his  unchangeable  and  incommunicable  priest- 
hood, and  thus  tends  to  subvert  pure  faith.  Every  be- 
liever has  a  personal,  direct,  immediate  relation  to  God, 
and  may,  in  Christ's  name,  offer  the  intercessory  prayer, 
although  Christ  is  really  the  only  intercessor  ;  and  while 
all  believers  are  made  in  Christ  "  priests  unto  God," 
there  is,  and  can  be,  really  but  one  "  priest,"  in  whom 
all  have  access  by  a  common  faith  to  the  Father.  "  For 
there  is  one  God,  and  one  Mediator  bet^veen  God  and 
men,  the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave  himself  a  ransom 
for  all."  (3)  Because  it  is  contrary  to  the  nature  and 
design  of  the  Christian  Church.  It  gradually  and  resist- 
lessly  shapes  the  Church  after  itself  into  a  hierarchy  of 
which  the  clergy  become  the  prescriptive  rulers  :  in  fact, 
where  this  idea  decidedly  predominates,  the  bishops  and 


68  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

inferior  clergy  are  considered  as  properly  constituting  the 
Church,  and  the  people  are  as  an  adjunct  or  ornament 
pinned  on  to  the  clergy.  Powers  are  assumed  by  the 
Church  (thus  appropriated  by  the  clergy)  which  belong 
only  to  Christ  ;  the  means  of  grace  are  made  the  authors 
of  grace  ;  the  instrument  is  viewed  as  the  power,  or 
source  of  power,  until,  in  the  minds  of  the  more  ignorant 
and  unthinking,  the  mediatorship  is  transferred  from  the 
divine  Saviour  to  the  human  ecclesiastic — the  logical  and 
tremendous  consequence  of  this  idea,  which  is,  and  has 
been,  a  fruitful  source  of  evil  in  the  Church.  The  ten- 
dency of  the  sacerdotal  theory  is  to  lead  to  the  neglect 
of  the  preaching  of  the  Word  and  of  the  higher  moral, 
rational,  and  pastoral  duties  of  the  ministry,  and  to  the 
building  up  of  a  religion  of  external  power.  The  influ- 
ence of  priestcraft  has  been  like  a  vampire  fastened  on 
the  Church's  vitals,  and  all  the  more  devouring  and  con- 
suming when  the  character  of  the  priest  has  been  com- 
paratively excellent.  Hildebrand  is  a  striking  instance 
of  a  man  unimpeachable  in  morals  and  splendid  in  genius, 
but  who,  aiming  at  power  through  the  assumption  of 
spiritual  authority  in  his  office,  became  widely  destruc- 
tive of  good  from  the  influence  of  his  capacious  mind  and 
high  character.  The  fact  that  ministers,  as  a  general 
rule,  make  poor  rulers  of  secular  institutions  whether  they 
be  civil  or  financial,  or  even  if  they  be  purely  scientific  in- 
stitutions, and  that  though  individually  they  may  be  the 
ablest  and  best  of  men,  history  has  signally  shown  that 
"  the  government  of  priests  is  the  worst  of  governments," 
this  is  a  pretty  strong  argument  that  the  Master  in  his 
wisdom  did  not  intend  to  intrust  his  ministers  with 
human  power,  and  certainly  not  as  a  body.  They  have 
another  work  to  do.  Their  power  consists  in  serving  a 
divine  will,  and  purely  and  intelligently  interpreting  it  to 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  69 

men,  centring  themselves  in  that  Word  whose  servants 
they  are,  and  losing  themselves  in  that  controlling  love 
which  is  the  omnipotent  power  that  works  out  the 
highest  good  of  humanity.  (4)  Because  it  is  singularly 
affiliated  with  a  certain  resistless  downward  tendency  in 
human  nature  to  serve  God  by  proxy.  Men  naturally 
love  a  religion  which,  without  requiring  of  them  great 
personal  service  and  sacrifice,  at  the  same  time  soothes 
and  satisfies  the  religious  sentiment  ;  and  even  good  men 
are  sometimes  not  naturally  indisposed  to  take  upon 
themselves  great  labors,  toils,  and  responsibilities  for 
others,  if  by  so  doing  they  become,  in  some  sense,  the 
keepers  of  consciences  and  the  sources  of  religious 
authority. 

While  we  thus  strongly  affirm  that  the  Christian 
ministry  is  not  a  "priesthood,"  neither  in  the  Hebrew 
nor  Romish  sense,  and  while  we  w^ould  not  retain  "  a  rag 
or  tag"  of  that  erroneous  theory,  yet  we  would  not  deny 
that  sentiments  which  are  derived  from  the  ancient 
priestly  office  in  the  Church  may  not  still  irresistibly  and 
innocently  linger  about  the  office  of  the  Christian 
ministry  ;  for  example,  the  pastor  is  especially  called 
upon  to  pray  for  his  people,  even  as  Christ,  the  true  In- 
tercessor, intercedes  for  them  ;  and  then,  too,  there  is  a 
natural  desire  or  impulse  in  men  to  confess  their  faults 
to  their  fellow-men — the  child  confesses  his  wrong  doings 
to  his  mother,  and  finds  relief — and  so,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, so  far  as  the  pastor  is  worthy  of  such  trust,  and  so 
far  as  the  confession  is  made  spontaneously  and  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  religious  counsel,  he  naturally  and  prop- 
erly receives,  in  reference  to  spiritual  doubts,  fears,  and 
even  sometimes  sins,  the  confidence  of  his  people. 
Something,  too,  of  the  priestly  office,  in  the  case  of  sick- 
ness, affliction,  and  death,  where  the  power  of  souls  to 


70  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

act  for  themselves  is  enfeebled,  is  manifested  in  the  inter- 
cessory prayer  and  the  religious  ministrations  of  the  pas- 
tor ;  but  these  are  ideas,  sentiments,  and  voluntary 
expressions  of  pious  service  and  fraternal  sympathy,  and 
in  no  sense  are  they  the  result  of  a  divinely  appointed 
priestly  office  which  plays  the  part  of  real  mediator  in 
spiritual  things. 

3.   That  it   is   a  merely   temporary  relation  of    guide, 
Not  a  mere     philosopher,  and  friend. 

guide,  phi-  The  office  has  degenerated  into  something 
losopher,  and  ij^e  this  in  religious  denominations  that  do 
friend.  ^^^^  recognize  the  need  of  faith  in  the  sacri- 
fice of  Christ,  which  is  the  root  of  the  Christian  ministry  ; 
and  it  amounts  to  this  with  some  of  the  most  extreme  of 
them — that  advantage  is  taken  of  a  customary  official 
solemnity  to  appoint  a  man  to  preach  hinisclf,  to  teach 
his  own  moral  and  philosophical  opinions,  or  to  dissemi- 
nate them  with  somewhat  more  of  ex  cathedra  authority. 

There  is  also  a  tendency,  even  among  some  evangeli- 
cal bodies  and  ministers,  to  secularize  the  divine  office, 
and  to  consider  it  a  conventional  or  business  relation- 
ship, in  which  the  minister,  as  in  merely  worldly  occupa- 
tions, is  paid  for  his  work,  and  there  is  no  debt  incurred 
on  either  side  ;  but  in  this  way  the  pastor  destroys  the 
foundation  on  which  he  stands,  and  denies  the  only 
right  he  has  to  preach  and  teach  others.  If  this  right  or 
relation  is  actually  nothing  more  than  that  of  a  friend, 
no  man  has  authority  to  set  himself  up  as  a  religious 
teacher  of  other  men.  That  the  relation  of  a  pastor  to 
his  people  is,  on  the  contrary,  a  higher  spiritual  relation- 
ship, and  thus  in  some  sense  a  sacred  and  eternal  one, 
we  see — 

{a)  Because  it  is  a  divine  institution,  {b)  Because  the 
minister  deals   with    eternal   truths,      [c]   Because  at  the 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  71 

eternal  judgment  he  must  give  an  account  of  his  steward- 
ship as  a  pastor  of  souls,  {d)  Because  his  teachings, 
labors,  aims,  and  life,  all  tell  upon  an  eternal  destiny  ; 
his  is  no  temporary  service,  {e)  Because  the  mutual  rela- 
tions of  a  pastor  and  people  are  not  those  of  intellectual 
admiration,  or  sentimental  affection,  or  interested  friend- 
ship, but  those  of  regenerated  and  sanctified  hearts, 
which  relations  are  eternal. 

Yet,  as  is  true  of  the  two  former  views  of  the  ministry, 
which  were  erroneous  when  objectively  viewed  as  a 
whole,  but  which  yet  had  something  true  in  them  in  a 
reflective  and  partial  sense,  so  in  the  relation  upon  which 
we  have  just  animadverted  there  is  contained  something 
that  always  and  universally  applies  to  the  of^ce  of  the 
ministry.  The  Christian  pastor  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the 
true  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend  of  his  people  ;  for  he 
teaches  them  the  highest  philosophy — ^that  which  cen- 
tralizes and  harmonizes  truth  ;  he  strives  for  their  best 
welfare — that  of  their  souls  ;  and  he  actually  guides  them 
into  the  way  of  eternal  life.  And  in  common  life,  in  all 
ordinary  and  "social  relations,  he  is  the  sincere  and  lov- 
ing and  unselfish  friend  of  his  people  ;  he  gives  them  his 
aid  freely,  "  without  money  and  without  price,"  and  is 
able  truly  to  call  them,  and  they  to  call  him,  "  be- 
lov^ed." 

Other  false,  perverted,  or  exaggerated  ideas  of  the 
pastoral  office  might  be  noticed  ;  but  we  would  now 
directly  state,  in  but  few  words,  what  we  conceive  to 
be,  in  the  main,  the  true  idea  of  the  ministry. 

The  Christian  ministry  is  a  divinely  appointed  and 
divinely  guided  office  in  the  Church,  to  sow  the  "  Word 
of  God,"  which  is  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  that  they  may  learn  to  love  and  serve  the 


72  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

living  God  and  to  lead  lives  of  active  benevolence  and 

goodness  in  imitation  of  Christ.  That  is  its 
A  ministry  of   ,        i  ,  •  ,  i    i      ■  ^t^, 

th    W    d      lundamental  idea  and  design.      Ihe  ministry 

is  a  "  ministry  of  the  Word."  The  minister 
is  "  the  man  who  speaks  the  word  of  God  ;  he  does  not 
recite  it.  The  priest  was  a  slave,  but  the  minister  has  a 
free  intercourse  with  God."'  Preaching  cannot  indeed 
be  disconnected  from  the  pastoral  work.  The  pastorate  is 
the  ultimate  position  of  the  ministry  ;  for  he  does  not  go 
everywhere  preaching  and  serving,  but  he  is  to  feed  the 
flock  over  which  he  is  placed,  and  he  should  never  con- 
tent himself  with  the  present  moral  and  spiritual  condi- 
tion of  his  people,  but  he  must  ever  strive  to  lead  them 
up  higher.  He  should  go  on  from  strength  to  strength. 
He  should  cherish  a  lofty  ideal  of  his  work,  before  which 
low  aims  fade  away,  looking  beyond  time  into  eternity. 
Vinet  urges  this  moral  view  of  the  pastoral  office,  and 
says,  "  Examine  all  the  titles,  all  the  names,  which  are 
given  to  the  ministry  in  the  gospel  ;  you  v/ill  not  find  one 
which  goes  beyond  this  idea  of  service — of  being  the  ser- 
vant of  humanity  in  its  great  interest  for  the  love  of 
God.  All  is  noble  in  this  institution  which  rejects  every 
force  except  that  of  persuasion,  which  has  no  other  end 
but  the  reign  of  truth,  and  is  not  distinguished  except  by 
a  more  absolute  devotion."  "' 

There  are,  indeed,  other  subordinate  ideas  of  the 
ministry.  It  is  a  special  office  of  the  Church  to  serve  the 
Church  in  various  ways.  The  minister  presides  in  the 
business  affairs  of  the  Church  ;  he  conducts  the  public 
worship  ;  he  exercises  care  for  the  moral  and  spiritual  in- 
terests of  his  people,  by  daily  personal  ministrations  ;  he 
administers  the  rites  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  ; 


Yinet's  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  24.  "  Idem.  p.  39. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  73 

he  oversees  the  charities  of  the  Church,  and  attends  upon 
the  wants  of  the  poor,  the  sick,  and  the  afflicted  ;  he 
prepares  candidates  for  admission  to  the  Church,  and  has 
a  regulative  voice  in  the  Church's  disciphne  ;  he  guides 
the  spiritual  and  benevolent  activities  of  his  people  ; 
and  perhaps  one  half  of  his  actual  efficiency  for  good 
lies  outside  of  the  pulpit,  in  what  may  be  strictly  called 
his  pastoral  duties  ;  but  in  all  he  is  still  engaged  in  sow- 
ing the  good  Word  of  God  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  in 
building  up  the  kingdom  of  truth. 

Although  this  divine  Word  that  he  dispenses  is  found 
in  man,  in  nature,  in  all  things,  yet  Christ's  minister 
finds  it  chiefly  in  Christ's  words,  in  the  Scriptures  of 
truth,  with  the  Holy  Spirit  as  their  interpreter  ;  therefore 
he  must  himself  know  in  order  to  teach  ;  he  must  teach 
men  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  ;  and  here  is  the  deepest  idea 
of  the  pastoral  ofifice  :  to  dispense  the  Word  of  Christ  in 
the  very  power,  spirit,  and  love  of  Christ,  that  we  may  be 
"  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament  ;  not  of  the  let- 
ter, but  of  the  spirit  ;  for  the  letter  killeth,  but  the  spirit 
giveth  life." 

We  would  cite  a  few  texts  setting  forth  and  confirm- 
ing this  conception  of  the  design  of  the  pastoral  office  : 
Matt.  28  :  19,  20  ;  Acts  4  :  29  ;  6:4;  20  :  24,  28  ;  Rom. 
10  :  14,  15  ;  I  Cor.  i  :  17  ;  i  :  21  ;  2  :  4  ;  2  Cor.  4  :  i, 
2  ;  2  :  17  ;  2  Tim.  1:13;  2  :  15  ;  4  :  i  ;  Titus  1:3; 
1:9;!  Pet.  4:11. 

The  Christian  pastor  should  pray  with  Paul  (Gal. 
I  :  16),  "  to  reveal  his  Son  in  me,  that  I  might  preach 
him  ;"  and  he  should  be  able  to  say  also  with  the 
apostle  (2  Cor.  4:5),  "  For  we  preach  not  ourselves,  but 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  and  ourselves  your  servants  for 
Jesus'  sake." 

We  conclude  this  brief  discussion  of  the  true   idea  of 


74  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  pastoral  office  by  quoting"  once  more  the  words  of 
Vinet  :  "  On  the  whole,  the  pastor  is  nothing  more  by 
name  than  a  steward  of  the  Word  of  God.  He  is  a  man 
who  has  consecrated  himself  to  break  to  the  multitude 
the  bread  of  truth.  He  is  a  man  who  has  devoted  him- 
self to  apply — to  appropriate  to  men  the  redemptive  work 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (2  Cor.  5  :  9)  since  God  has 
determined  to  save  men  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching. 
As  Jesus  Christ  is  sent  into  the  world,  he  is  sent  by  Jesus 
Christ.  He  comes,  on  his  part,  to  do  from  gratitude  all 
that  Jesus  Christ  did  from  love.  He  reproduces  every- 
thing of  Jesus  Christ  except  his  merits.  As  to  the 
obligations  imposed  on  him,  he  is  neither  less  nor  more 
than  his  Master.  He  does,  under  the  auspices  of  divine 
mercy,  all  that  Jesus  Christ  did  under  the  weight  of 
divine  wrath.  By  word,  by  works,  and  by  obedience,  he 
perpetuates  Jesus  Christ."  * 

Sec.  5.   Model  of  tJie  Pastor, 

There  are  strong  pointings  of  Scripture  to  the  actual  as 
well  as  the  ideal  "  pastor"  of  men,  who,  in  all  ages,  has 
fed  and  guided  their  souls,  not  only  through  the  green 
pastures,  but  through  the  wilderness  ;  who  nourished 
them  with  the  bread  of  life  not  only  in  the  Desert  of 
Sinai  but  by  the  pleasant  shore  of  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  i 
Peter  2  :  25,  "  The  chief  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  our 
souls."  Matt.  23  :  10,  "  Neither  be  ye  called. masters  ; 
for  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ."  Matt.  28  :  20, 
"  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you  ;  and  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world." 

■  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  36. 


THE    PASTORAL    OFFICE.  75 

Such  passages  point  to  the  great  model,  whose  ex- 
ample the  pastor  should  follow,  and  who  was  himself  the 
"  good  "  or  perfect  "  Shepherd."  This  is  a  truth  which 
has  been  already  touched  upon,  and  is  obvious  ;  but  it  is 
exceedingly  important  that  it  should  be  fixed  early  and 
deeply  in  the  pastor's  mind.  The  character  of  Jesus,  it 
is  true,  forbids  his  possible  classification,  in  all  respects, 
with  men  ;  yet  he  was  a  true  man,  and  he  said  to  his 
earliest  disciples,  "  Come  after  me,  and  I  will  make  you 
fishers  of  men."  And  they  did  follow  him  ;  they 
learned  his  patient  and  gentle  wa}-s  of  dealing  Avith 
men  ;  they  learned  his  mode  of  teaching  ;  they  caught 
his  lofty  and  loving  spirit.  The  apostle  Paul  considered 
Christ  to  be  his  model  as  a  pastor,  as  well  as  a  Christian  ; 
and  living  pastors,  looking  far  beyond  Paul,  Peter,  and 
John  and  eveiy  human  example,  should  do  the  same. 

When  George  Herbert  took  holy  orders,  he  said,  "  I 
will  consecrate  all  my  learning  and  all  my  poor  abilities 
to  advance  the  glory  of  that  God  that  gave  them,  know- 
ing; that  I  can  never  do  too  much  for  Him  that  hath  done 
so  much  for  me  as  to  make  me  a  Christian  ;  and  I  zvill 
labor  to  be  like  my  Saviour,  by  making  humility  lovely  in 
the  eyes  of  all  men,  and  by  following  the  merciful  and 
meek  example  of  my  dear  Jesus." 

We  will  not  go  into  a  minute  analysis  of  those  quali- 
ties of  character  and  action  in  which  a  pastor  should 
strive  to  be  like  Christ,  from  whom  he  derives  his  power 
and  all  that  makes  him  a  true  minister  ;  but  we  would 
desire  to  mark  impressively  the  fact  that  the  pastor  should 
look  through  and  beyond  every  other  model  up  to 
Christ  ;  and  there  are  four  points  especially  where  Christ 
meets  man  as  pastor,  or  guide  :  in  his  mental,  moral, 
affectional,  and  spiritual  being  ;  and  on  these  he  should 
especially  fix  his  attention. 


76  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

I.  As  a  teacher.  It  is  an  animating  thought  that 
"  the  word  which  we  preach  lirst  began  to  be  spoken  of 

the    Lord."     Christ's  teaching,   as   we  have 
As  a  teacher. 

before  characterized  it,  was  personal,  ad- 
dressed to  the  individual — to  what  essentially  constitutes 
the  individual — his  true  self.  It  is  written  "  for  all  the 
people  were  very  attentive  to  hear  him" — lit.  "  hung 
upon  him,  hearing."  The  pastor's  teaching  should  have 
this  personal  directness  and  earnest  aim  ;  it  should  go 
deep  and  reach  the  enduring  principles  and  choices  of 
the  soul  which  make  character,  which  a  man  carries  with 
him  into  eternity.  It  should  not  play  about  the  intel- 
lect, nor  even  address  wholly  the  conscience,  but  should 
aim  at  the  ruling  will,  affections,  and  spirit. 

As  to  the  manner  of  our  Lord's  teaching,  it  was, 
generally  speaking,  to  drop  the  word  of  life  in  the  soul 
as  a  seed,  rather  than  as  a  fully-developed  truth  ;  and 
then  the  soul  itself,  in  its  own  life  and  growth,  might 
take  up  this  truth,"  and  bring  it  to  its  perfect  maturity  by 
its  own  thought  and  voluntary  act,  while  it  is  watered 
and  helped  from  on  high.  Thus  the  truth  became  incor- 
porated in  the  being,  while  the  soul  was  left  freely  to  do 
its  part.  Christ  did  not  make  all  plain,  but  sought  to 
arouse  in  the  soul  itself  the  sense  of  God,  of  human 
dependence,  of  sin,  of  the  need  of  redemption,  repent- 
ance, faith,  and  prayer.'  The  source  of  every  teacher's 
success  is  to  have  "  faith  in  the  power  of  truth,  as  adapted 
to  change  the  moral  condition  of  men,  and  thus  to  bring 
in  a  better  life." 

There  arc,  however,  it  is  obvious,  some  things  in 
Christ's  teaching  which  should  not,  and  cannot,  be  fol- 
lowed ;  as,  for  example,  his  infallible  assertion  of  truth 


^  Neander's  "  Life  of  Christ,"  Hooper's  ed.,  p.  io6. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  77 

on  his  own  authority,  and  the  acts  of  miraculous  power 
which  accompanied  his  ministry  ;  but  in  his  common 
methods  of  teaching,  his  simplicity,  naturahiess,  adapta- 
tion, gentleness,  we  are  to  make  him  our  model,  and 
especially  are  we  to  do  this  in  a  spiritual  point  of  view. 
"  Preaching  is  an  action,  but  an  action  of  the  soul,  and 
its  effects  are  connected  with  the  preacher's  spiritual 
state.  It  is  not  so  much  by  what  he  says  as  by  what  he 
is  that  the  preacher  may  flatter  himself  that  he  does  not 
beat  the  air.  Before  everything  he  is  concerned  to  '  hold 
the  mystery  of  the  faith  in  a  pure  conscience  '  (i  Tim. 
3  :  9).  This  pure  conscience  (that  is  to  say,  uprightness 
of  intention)  is  the  true  force  of  preaching.  A  discourse 
is  powerful  from  the  motive  of  him  who  pronounces  it, 
whatever  may  be  the  mode  in  which  that  motive  ex- 
presses itself.  A  discourse  is  so  much  the  better  the 
more  it  resembles  an  act  of  contrition,  of  submission,  of 
.prayer,  of  martyrdom.  We  must  pray,  we  must  purify 
our  heart,  we  must  expect  everything  from  heaven,  we 
must  arm  ourselves  with  the  sword  of  the  Word  of  God, 
and  not  count  upon  anything  in  ourselves  :  this  is  the 
essential  preparation.  In  a  word,  our  lips  are  natural- 
ly defiled  ;  they  must  be  purged,  and  purged  by  fire" 
(Is.  6  :  5-7).'  This  leads  us  to  consider  the  second  point 
of  imitation. 

2.   As   a   character  of    moral  blamelessnes?.      Christ's 
power   as    guide    and   pastor   of    other    men 
arose  from   the   fact  that   he   "was  without    As  a  charac- 

sin."     By  his  obedience  to  the  law,  and  by 

blameless- 
the  power  of  his  goodness,  he  opened  every  ^^^^ 

prison  door,  and  proclaimed  liberty  to  every 

captive.      His  goodness  gave  to  his  sacrifice  a  profound 

'  Vinet's  "  Pas.  Thcol./'  p.  193. 


78  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

merit,  and  made  it  able  to  cleanse  sin  from  the  depths  of 
the  soul  ;  and  because  of  his  perfect  goodness,  men  might 
put  their  trust  in  him  to  feed  them  with  the  bread  of 
everlasting  life.  Schleiermacher  has  brought  out  this 
thought  of  the  need  of  the  Saviour's  immaculate  holiness 
in  order  to  be  the  Redeemer  of  sinful  men  with  great 
force  and  clearness  ;  and  it  was  with  him  a  favorite  and 
vital  doctrine,  underlying  the  whole  truth  of  Christianity 
as  a  redeeming  power  in  humanity.  The  minister  of  his 
pure  gospel  should  pray  and  strive  to  approximate  more 
nearly  to  the  blamelessness  of  Christ,  and  to  appropriate 
more  of  his  moral  purity,  knowing  that  every  gain  in 
goodness  is  a  gain  in  power  ;  and  we  are,  moreover, 
commanded  to  be  "  holy  as  he  is  holy  ;"  to  be  "  fol- 
lowers of  God  as  dear  children." 

3.   As  one  who  had  true  sympathy  with  men.      Christ's 

sympathy  was  not  solely  with  God  and  with  God's  truth, 

government,  and  will  ;  but  he  shared  in  all 

As  one  who  ^^^  human.      In    the    body,   jTiind,    and 

had  sym-  ...  1     n    '  1     •  ■     1  1 

,,  spirit  of  men,  and  all  their  varied  wants  and 

experiences,  he  truly  entered.  He  was 
even  "  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin."  He  is, 
therefore,  "  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities," 
for  he  was  himself  tried  and  tempted.  Neander  says, 
in  his  "Life  of  Christ,"  he  became  human  "so  that 
his  soul  might  be  moved  to  its  depths  by  sympathy  with 
the  sufferings  of  mankind  on  account  of  sin."  That 
noble  word  "sympathy'^  {^avv-naidoi)  —  "suffering 
with,"  being  in  commonjn  the  very  same  things  that  we 
do  and  suffer — Christ  perfectly  realized.  He  showed  "  a 
special,  separate,  discriminating  sympathy,  as  in  the 
case  of  erring  Peter,  derided  Zaccheus,  and  the  dead 
Lazarus."  Something  of  this  Christ-like  power  of  sym- 
pathy every  true  pastor  should  have  ;  and  yet,  perhaps, 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  79 

here  is  often  the  most  profound  failure.  It  is  indeed  too 
rare  that  the  tone  of  true  sympath}',  of  that  real  pathos 
which  is  unmistakable  and  which  comes  from  the  heart 
and  goes  to  the  heart,  is  heard  in  the  pulpit  or  the  pas- 
toral ministration  ;  there  is  oftentimes  a  strained  imita- 
tion of  it,  but  it  is  in  a  false  key  soon  detected.  There 
may  be  every  other  quality  but  this.  St.  Vincent  de 
Paul  said  (with  a  touch  of  fanatical  yet  noble  extrava- 
gance), "  If  it  has  pleased  God  to  employ  weak  men  for 
the  conversion  of  some  souls,  these  souls  have  themselves 
confessed  that  it  was  by  the  patience  and  sympathy  which 
had  been  shown  them.  Even  the  convicts  among  whom 
I  have  lived  can  be  gained  in  no  other  way.  When  I 
have  kissed  their  chains,  and  showed  them  compassion 
for  their  distress,  and  sensibility  for  their  disgrace,  then 
they  have  listened  to  me,  then  they  have  given  glory  to 
God,  and  placed  themselves  in  the  way  of  salvation." 
Men  do  not  want  outer  charity  as  much  as  they  want 
real  sympathy  and  love.  One  ray  of  that  is  worth  more 
to  the  pastor,  to  melt  men's  proud,  suspicious  hearts, 
than  to  play  on  them  for  years  the  cold  splendors  of  the 
intellect.  Those  were  remarkable  words  of  Sergeant 
Talfourd  shortly  before  his  death  :  "  What  the  thirsting 
and  perishing  nations  of  men  long  for  is  not  benevolence, 
but  sympathy — the  brother's  heart  to  be  shown  to  them." 
Love  is  the  central  power  in  the  ministry,  as  is  seen  from 
the  very  nature  of  the  Christian  life,  and  also  in  Chris- 
tians themselves  like  Paul,  Augustine,  Raymond  Lull, 
Fenelon,  Oberlin,  John  Howard.  "  In  one  jail  Howard 
found  a  cell  so  narrow  and  noisome  that  the  poor  wretch 
who  inhabited  it  begged  as  a  mercy  for  hanging. 
Howard  shut  himself  up  in  this  cell,  and  bore  its  dark- 
ness and  foulness  till  nature  could  bear  no  more.  The 
work  in  which  he  recorded  his  terrible  experience  and  the 


So  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

plans  which  he  submitted  for  the  reformation  of  crimi- 
nals, make  him  the  father  of  prison  discipline."  '  Some 
one  has  said  of  the  Christian  ministry,  "  Its  function  is 
speech,  its  theme  is  truth,  its  genius  is  love."  This 
equality  of  love  is  not  a  weak  sensibility,  but  rather  the 
action  of  the  soul's  purest  sympathy  and  affection,  the 
spirit  of  the  cross  in  its  real  operation,  which  is  the 
power  of  God  to  draw  and  save.  Vinet  has  some  beau- 
tiful remarks  on  this  point  ("  Pas.  Theol."  p.  34).  He 
says,  "  Still,  all  these  metaphors,  all  the  additional  pas- 
sages, do  not  attain  to  the  complete  sum  of  the  elements 
of  the  ministry — to  the  ideal  of  a  pastor.  We  have  need 
of  a  type,  a  model,  a  personification  of  each  idea. 
Where  shall  we  look  first .''  If  any  one  has  been  the  type 
of  man,  he  has  been  at  the  same  time  the  type  of  a  pas- 
tor ;  for  it  is  impossible  that  the  pastor  should  not  make 
a  part  of  the  ideal  of  man  ;  impossible  that  he  in  whom 
the  perfection  of  human  nature  was  fully  represented 
should  not  have  been  a  jDastor.  This  new  man,  this 
second  Adam,  could  not  have  been  such  except  by  love. 
The  first  object  of  love  is  that  which  is  immortal  in  man. 
It  is,  then,  upon  the  soul  that  love  will  chiefly  exercise 
itself  ;  and  as  we  cannot  do  good  to  the  soul  excej^t 
through  its  regeneration,  and  as  it  cannot  be  regenerated 
except  by  the  truth,  to  nourish  the  soul  with  truth,  to 
feed  it  thus  in  green  pastures,  and  along  tranquil  waters, 
was  necessarily  the  office  of  a  perfect  man,  of  the  type 
of  man.      He  must  have  been  a  pastor." 

4.   As    one    who    had    the    spirit    of    self- 
The  spirit  of  .-  ™,  .       .         ,  .   .  ,      ,         ,       , 

self-sacrifice    •''^^^ince.      I  his    IS    the    spirit   and   the  faith 

that  leads  one  to  put  the  world  under  his 

feet — "That  we   should  not   henceforth   live   unto    our- 

'  Green's  "  Hist,  of  England,"  p.  711. 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  8i 

selves,  but  unto  him  that  died  for  us  and  rose  again." 
It  is,  without  affectation  or  admixture  of  the  mystic 
theory  of  self-annihilation,  the  carrying  out  of-  the  old 
Catholic  motto,  "  aina  ncsciri,"  which  led  Thomas  a 
Kempis,  if  he  were  indeed  the  author  of  the  "  De  Imita- 
tione  Christi,"  not  to  avow  the  authorship  of  that  priceless 
book.  This,  indeed,  is  the  natural  result  and  crowning 
grace  of  the  pastoral  spirit.  Our  Saviour's  love  went  to 
the  perfect  surrender  of  himself  for  those  he  loved,  and 
to  the  laying  down  of  his  life.  A  passage  from  F.  W. 
Robertson's  letter  to  a  friend  about  to  become  a  settled 
pastor  is  an  affecting  illustration  of  this  point  :  "  Most 
sincerely  I  congratulate  you  on  your  prospect  of  a 
curacy,  but  much  more  on  the  approach  of  the  highest 
earthly  honor — the  privilege  of  working  for  Christ — and 
welcome  you  to  a  participation  of  its  joys  and  sorrows. 
Perhaps  the  latter  predominate  here,  but  they  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  to  the  joys  which  shall  be  re- 
vealed in  us,  if  we  suffer  with  Him.  I  think  the  strict- 
ness of  self-examination  for  ministerial  fitness  is  con- 
tained in  that  solemn,  searching  question  of  our  Lord, 
thrice  repeated,  '  Simon,  son  of  Jonas,  lovest  thou  me 
more  than  these  ?  '  And  if  we  can  answer  from  our  in- 
most souls,  as  Peter  did,  '  Lord,  Thou  knowest  all  things. 
Thou  knowest  that  I  love  Thee, '  I  believe  the  injunction 
which  follows,  and  the  warning  of  martyrdom,  would  be 
received  with  equal  joy  as  our  Master's  will.  I  am 
sensible  that  it  is  a  test  that  makes  me  humble." 


j/Sec.  6.    Call  to  the  Alinistry 


It  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  for  any  man 
preparing  for  the  ministry  to  be  satisfied  on  the  score  of 
his  true  calling  to  this  divine  office,  so  that  he-  may  not 


82  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

rashly  enter  upon  it,  and  at  the  same  time  may  enter 
\  upon  it  with  humble  confidence,  cheerfulness,  even  joy. 
He  need  not  be  frightened  if  he  have  a  simple,  honest 
view  of  what  the  Christian  ministry  is,  and  what  it  re- 
quires, though  he  may  be  altogether  conscious  of  his  im- 
perfect preparation  for  it. 

We   will   consider    briefly  the   necessity,    nature,    and 
signs  of  a  divine  call  to  the  ministry. 

I.    Necessity  of  a  divine  call.      This  is  seen — 

{a)  From   Scripture.      The  scriptural  idea 

y        ,.  .         ,,     of  the  ministry  being  that  of  one  who  under- 
a  divme  call.  ■'  ° 

takes  a  particular  charge  or  work,  this  im- 
plies the  special  calling  or  sending  of  him  who  is  to  do 
the  special  work.  In  the  Old  Testament  we  find  this 
idea  expressed,  Numbers  i8  :  7,  "  I  have  given  your 
priest's  office  unto  you  as  a  service  of  gift  ;  and  the 
stranger  that  cometh  nigh  shall  be  put  to  death."  Is. 
6:8,  "  Here  am  I,  O  Lord  ;  send  me."  Is.  61  :  i, 
"  The  spirit  of  the  Lord  God  is  upon  me  ;  because  the 
Lord  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  unto  the 
meek  ;  He  hath  sent  me  to  bind  up  the  broken-hearted. " 
Jer.  I  :  4-7,  "  Then  the  word  of  the  Lord  came  upon 
me,  saying,  Before  I  formed  thee  in  the  belly,  I  knew 
thee  ;  and  before  thou  earnest  forth  out  of  the  womb  I 
sanctified  thee,  and  I  ordained  thee  a  prophet  unto  the 
nations.  Then  said  I,  Ah,  Lord  God  !  Behold,  I  cannot 
speak  ;  for  I  am  a  child.  But  the  Lord  said  unto  me. 
Say  not,  I  am  a  child  ;  for  thou  shalt  go  to  all  that  I 
shall  send  thee,  and  whatsoever  I  command  thee  thou 
shalt  speak."  Jer.  23  :  32,  "  Behold,  I  am  against  them 
that  prophesy  false  dreams,  saith  the  Lord,  and  do  tell 
them,  and  cause  My  people  to  err  by  their  lies  and  by 
their  lightness  ;  yet  I  sent  them  not  nor  commanded 
them  ;  therefore  they  shall  not  profit   their  people  at  all, 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  83 

saith  the  Lord,"  He  who  unsent  preaches  God's  Word, 
preaches  to  no  profit  ;  it  has  been  so  in  the  past,  and  it 
is  so  now.  In. the  New  Testament,  our  Lord  appHed  to 
his  own  ministry  the  passage  in  Is.  61  :  i.  In  Matt. 
3  :  16,  17,  the  baptism  of  Christ  into  his  ministerial  work 
is  described  ;  and  in  Matt.  17  :  5  is  contained  the  con- 
firmation of  Christ's  own  call  to  preach  the  gospel. 

In  John  12  :  28-30,  Christ  appeals  to  the  fact  of  his 
being  called  to  preach  ;  and  through  him,  thus  divinely 
called,  all  other  Christian  ministers  have  their  vocation 
to  preach  the  gospel.  In  John/fl,  Christ  speaks  of  him- 
self as  the  only  door  into  this  ministry  ;  all  who  come  in 
by  any  other  way  are  thieves  and  robbers  ;  he  only  is  a 
true  shepherd  who  is  appointed  by  the  chief  Shepherd. 
Matt.  4  :  19,  "  Follow  me,  and  I  will  make  you  fishers  of 
men."  Mark  3  :  13,  "And  calleth  unto  him  whom  he 
would  ;  and  they  came  unto  him.  And  he  ordained 
twelve  that  they  should  be  with  him,  and  that  he  might 
send  them  forth  to  preach."  John  20  :  21,  "  Then  said 
Jesus  unto  them  again.  Peace  be  unto  you  ;  as  my 
Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you."  Acts  13:2, 
"  As  they  ministered  to  the  Lord  and  fasted,  the  Holy 
Ghost  said.  Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Paul  for  the  work 
whereunto  I  have  called  them."  Acts  20  :  28,  "  Take 
heed  therefore  unto  yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flocks  over 
the  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,  to 
feed  the  church  of  God."  i  Cor.  i,  "  Paul,  called  to  be 
an  apostle  through  the  will  of  God. "  Tit.  1:3,"  But  hath 
in  due  times  manifested  His  word  through  preaching, 
which  is  committed  unto  me  according  to  the  command- 
ment of  God  our  Saviour."  2  Tim.  1:9,"  Who  hath 
saved  us,  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling."  This  lan- 
guage might,  and  very  probably  does,  refer  especially  to 
a  calling  into  the   Christian  ministry,  which  was  shared 


84  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

both  by  Paul  and  Timothy.  The  call  of  Christ  of  the 
apostle  Paul,  though  unusual  and  miraculous  in  its  ex- 
ternal features,  was  essentially  the  same  with  the  divine 
vocation  of  any  other  true  minister,  as  is  evidenced  by 
the  apostle's  immediately  coming  into  relations  with  the 
Christian  Church  and  its  service  ;  he  was  not  disobe- 
dient unto  the  heavenly  vision  ;  he  obeyed  the  call  of 
the  Master,  which  to  him  was  an  especial  commission  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  nations. 

{b)  P'rom  the  best  human  testimony.  Luther's  lan- 
guage is  strong,  ' '  Expecta  vocantem ;  interim  esto 
scairiis ;  imo  si  esses  sapient ior  ipso  Salonione  et  Daniele, 
tamen,  nisi  voceris,  plus  quarn  infer nnni  fuge,  ne  verhini 
ejfundas.  Si  tui  egicerit,  vocabit  tc.  Si  non  voeabit,  non 
te  riunpat  scientia  tua.  Nunquam  enim  Dezis  fortimat 
labor  em  cornm,  qui  non  sunt  voeati ;  et  quanquam  qtcceelam 
salutaria  afferant,  tamen  nihil  cedificant.  E  regione, 
magna  semper  feeerunt,  qui,  Deo  vocante,  doeuerint."  In 
his  commentary  upon  Gal.  i  :  i,  Luther  says,  "  When  I 
was  but  a  young  divine,  methought  Paul  did  unwisely  in 
glorying  so  oft  of  his  calling  in  all  his  Epistles  ;  but  I  did 
not  understand  his  purpose,  for  I  knew  not  that  the 
ministry  of  God's  Word  was  so  weighty  a  matter." 

Bishop  Burnet,  in  his  "  Pastoral  Care"  (cap.  7),  says, 
"  I  wish  it  were  well  considered  by  all  clerks,  what  it  is 
to  run  without  being  called  or  sent  ;  and  so  to  thrust 
one's  self  into  the  vineyard  without  being  called  or  sent  ; 
and  so  to  thrust  one's  self  into  the  field,  without  staying 
till  God,  by  His  providence,  puts  a  piece  of  work  into  his 
hands.  This  will  give  a  man  a  vast  ease  in  his  thoughts, 
and  a  great  satisfaction  in  all  his  labors,  if  he  knows  that 
no  practice  of  his  own,  but  merely  the  directions  of  prov- 
idence, have  put  him  in  a  post."  Also  in  cap.  6,  dis- 
cussing the  question  of  ordination,  he  asks  the  candidate, 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  85 

"  Do  you  trust  that  you  are  inwardly  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  take  upon  you  this  office  ?  Certainly  the  answer 
of  this  ought  to  be  well  considered  ;  for  if  any  one  says, 
'  I  trust  so,'  that  yet  knows  nothing  of  any  such  motion, 
and  can  give  no  account  of  it,  he  lies  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
and  makes  his  first  approach  to  the  altar  with  a  lie  in  his 
mouth,  and  that  not  to  man,  but  to  God." 

Another  eminent  minister,  in  answer  to  a  question  put 
him  on  this  point  at  his  ordination,  said,  "  As  far  as, 
upon  search  and  inquiry,  I  can  hitherto  find,  though 
there  be  that  within  me  that  would  seek  great  things  for 
myself  (if,  indeed,  they  were  to  be  found  in  this  calling), 
yet  with  my  mind  I  seek  them  not.  But  the  improve- 
ment of  the  talent  which  I  have  received  in  the  service  of 
the  gospel,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of 
souls,  I  hope  is  in  my  eyes.  If  there  be  anything  else,  I 
own  it  not — I  allow  it  not.  While  so  many  '  seek  their 
own,'  it  is  my  desire,  and  it  shall  be  my  endeavor,  to 
'  seek  the  things  of  Jesus  Christ.' 

Massillon,  in  one  of  his  clerical  charges,  says,  "  If  you 
do  not  feel  in  yourselves  a  desire  of  being  employed  as 
ambassadors  of  God,  judge  ye  yourselves,  whether  ye  are 
called  into  the  Lord's  vineyard.  God  implants  a  love  in 
the  heart  for  the  service  to  which  He  calls  ;  and  better 
would  it  be  for  you  to  have  felt,  that  it  was  not  the 
ministry  for  which  you  were  intended,  than  that  you 
should  possess  a  want  of  inclination  for  the  performance 
of  its  duties.  It  is  not  necessary  that  a  voice  from 
heaven  should  say  to  you  in  secret,  '  The  Lord  has  not 
sent  you.'  Your  judgment,  confirmed  by  the  dictates  of 
your  conscience,  tells  you  so." 

St.  Bernard  wrote,  "  He  who  is  called  to  instruct  souls 
is  called  of  God,  and  not  by  his  own  ambition  ;  and  what 
is  this  call   but  an   inward    incentive  of  love,  soliciting  us 


86  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

to  be  zealous  for  the  salvation  of  our  brethren."  In  the 
same  vein  a  very  different  but  equally  good  man  and 
zealous  servant  of  Christ,  John  Wesley,  expressed  him- 
self thus  :  "  Every  minister,  before  he  undertakes  to 
preach  the  gospel  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  from  a  full 
evidence  of  a  work  of  conversion,  ought  to  be  enabled  to 
say,  '  The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  He 
hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  gospel.'  " 

Vinet  ("  Pas.  TlieoL,"  p.  ']6)  says,  "  We  must,  then, 
be  called  of  God.  A  call  to  the  ministry  which  is  exer- 
cised in  the  name  of  God,  and  in  which  He  is  represented, 
can  emanate  only  from  Him.  The  business  here,  in  fact, 
is  not  ours  ;  it  is  another's,  and  that  is  God  ;  in  a  word, 
it  is  a  ministry.  Whether  external  or  internal,  the  call 
ought  to  be  divine." 

(r)  From  an  enlightened  Christian  conscience.  It  is 
God's  Word  which  man  undertakes  to  preach,  and  he 
cannot  comprehend  that  Word  unless  God  opens  it  to 
him  ;  for  to  preach  the  preaching  that  God  bids  him,  re- 
quires an  inward  revelation  of  a  man's  sinful  and  selfish 
nature  to  enable  him  to  give  up  his  own  word,  or  his 
own  method  of  making  men  wise  and  holy,  and  to  pro- 
claim God's  wisdom  unto  salvation.  And  again,  as 
devotion  to  the  true  spirit  of  any  work  is  the  only  way  to 
succeed  in  it,  how  much  more  is  this  true  in  relation  to 
the  work  of  God  !  He  who  enters  the  ministry,  as 
Simon  Magus  did,  for  a  gift  of  power,  does  not  touch  the 
true  spirit  of  the  work,  and  will  surely  draw  evil  upon 
himself.  A  servant  of  Christ  should  strive  to  find  his 
own  work  ;  and  though  all  Christians  are  required  to 
work  for  the  advancement  of  God's  kingdom  and  the 
salvation  of  souls,  yet  ail  Christians  are  not  called  to  the 
ministry. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  87 

I  /  2.    Nature  of  a  divine  call. 

If  there  is  nov\^  no  heavenly  voice,  nor  angelic  mes- 
senger sent  from  God,  nothing  in  fine  miracu-  Nature  of 
lous,  in  what  does  this  divine  call  essentially  divine  call. 
consist  ?  Though  external  circumstances  may  have  a 
pointing  influence,  and  though  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a 
call  from  outward  events — the  "  vocatio  externa,"  as  it 
was  once  learnedly  termed,  and  in  which  the  call  from 
the  Church  of  an  orderly  kind  is  perhaps  the  main  ele- 
ment— yet  we  must  consider  that  the  real  call  is  an  in- 
ternal one,  or  the  "  vocatio  interna.''  The  first  is  a  nega- 
tive call,  so  to  speak  ;  removing  obstacles,  making  the 
way  plain,  and  it  is  important  in  this  respect  ;  but  the 
last  is  a  positive  call  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  To  express  this 
more  definitely,  we  would  say  that,  in  addition  to  the 
fact  of  a  true  conversion  which  awakens  in  the  heart  a 
love  for  the  Saviour  and  for  men,  and  of  favoring  ex- 
ternal circumstances,  there  should  exist  a  supreme  desire 
and  purpose  to  be  engaged  in  the  special  work  of  preach- 
ing the  gospel  for  the  salvation  of  men — the  peculiar 
work  of  Christ.  This  should  be  a  real,  and  it  might  be 
said,  in  some  sense,  a  ruling  motive  of  the  mind,  a  real 
call  from  God,  not  merely  from  man.  The  idea  is  ex- 
pressed by  Vinet  in  other  words  ("  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  82)  : 
"  If  the  ruling  motive  of  the  candidate  can  express  itself 
in  terms  which  define  the  institution  of  the  evangelical 
ministry,  it  is  a  good  one."  He  probably  means  by  this, 
that  if  a  man  thoroughly  believes  the  truth  of  the  neces- 
sity of  Christ's  work  of  redeeming  men  ;  that  through 
faith  in  the  Son  of  God  men  are  to  be  converted  and 
saved  ;  if  this  truth  possesses  him,  fills  his  being,  awakes 
in  him  a  ruling  motive,  a  desire  to  become  an  instrument, 
under  Christ,  in  bringing  about  this  blessed  reconciliation 
between  God  and  man,  that  God  should  beseech  man  by 


88  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

him  to  become  reconciled  to  God — then  this  is  a  good 
and  holy  motive,  one  inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and 
one  that  constitutes  the  essence  of  a  true  call  to  the 
ministry. 

The  call  to  the  ministry  of  Christ  is  a  call  guiding 
the  will  and  the  affections  and  imparting  fit  spiritual 
qualifications — a  real  call,  or  influence,  of  the  Spirit, 
which  at  the  same  time  does  not  destroy  a  man's  own 
free  volition,  but  which  makes  the  path  of  duty  plain. 
We  would  not  raise  a  false,  or  superstitious,  or  enthu- 
siastic standard  here,  discouraging  to  cool  and  straight- 
forward minds  that  are  not  usually  swayed  by  their 
emotional  nature.  A  call  to  the  ministry  does  not 
differ  from  other  vocations  to  duty  so  much  in  its  in- 
trinsic nature  as  perhaps  in  its  degree,  or  its  high  and 
peculiar  import.  A  man  should  feel  willing  to  devote  his 
life  to  this  work — not  a  portion  of  it,  but  the  whole  of  it. 
"  The  internal  call,  or  the  call  of  the  Spirit,  is  an  impres- 
sion on  a  person's  mind  which  he  feels  to  come  from  God, 
through  the  circumstances  of  his  life,  the  emotions  of  his 
soul,  the  convictions  of  his  conscience,  telling  him  that  he 
ought  to  engage  in  the  labors  of  the  ministry  as  his  life- 
work. 

The  view  which  has  been  set  forth  is  taking  higher 
ground  than  is  assumed  by  persons  who  look  upon  a  call 
to  the  ministry  as  consisting  in  nothing  more  than  this — 
that  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  one  from  being  a  minister. 
This  is  good  as  far  as  it  goes,  but  it  has  no  positive 
element  or  real  call  in  it.  In  the  case  of  some  candidates 
for  the  ministry,  the  answer  given  to  the  question, 
"  What  is  your  reason  for  thinking  you  are  called  to  the 
ministry?"  or,  "  What  is  your  purpose  in  being  called  to 
the  ministry?"  frequently  is  this— that  he  enters  the 
ministry  "  because,  on  the  whole,  he  thinks  he   can   do 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  89 

the  most  good  in  this  field."  This  does  not  seem  quite 
satisfactory  ;  for  the  ministry  must  be  entered  with  the 
whole  heart,  or  it  will  be  a  weary,  unprofitable  service. 
Doubtless  there  are  many  men  who  are  pursuing  other 
professions  Who  ought  to  be  in  the  ministry  ;  but  for  one 
entering  the  ministry  to  be  in  a  mental  condition  that 
merely  reasons  ujaon  and  balances  probabilities  as  to 
future  usefulness,  this  does  not,  we  think,  constitute  pre- 
cisely the  right  condition  of  mind  in  which  to  take  up 
such  a  work.  What  this  positive  call  to  the  ministry 
consists  in  may  be  a  more  difficult  question  to  decide  ; 
but  it  would  seem  to  be  something  more  marked  and 
profound  than  this  intellectual  choice.  It  is  something 
more  than  a  simple  decision  of  the  understanding. 
There  is  in  it  a  decided  current  of  the  will.  There  is  in 
it,  in  some  sense,  an  internal  voice  of  God  to  the  soul, 
saying,  "  Go  thou  and  preach  the  kingdom  of  God  !" 
It  is  dif^cult  and  presumptuous,  of  course,  to  attempt 
to  describe  the  inward  workings  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  but 
we  might  say  that  this  awakened  desire  of  the  soul  takes 
the  form  of  a  ruling  motive,  which  seeks  to  bend  all 
things  to  the  accomplishment  of  its  end.  Of  course 
there  may  not  be  the  same  strength  of  zeal  and  depth 
of  spiritual  feeling  in  all  men.  Some  temperaments  are 
moved  by  the  sense  of  duty  more  than  by  the  affections 
of  the  heart.  Faith  differs,  too,  in  its  standards  of  con- 
secration. All  true  and  good  ministers  of  the  gospel 
could  not  perhaps  say  with  the  apostle,  "  Necessity  is  laid 
upon  me  ;  yea,  woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel." 
It  would  probably  be  asking  too  much  to  bring  the 
decision  of  this  question,  in  ordinary  cases,  to  the  issue 
of  the  apostle's  view  of  the  work  of  the  ministry  as  here 
expressed  ;  yet  should  not  something  of  the  feeling  ex- 
pressed in  those  words  truly  enter  into  the  decision  of 


90  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

every  genuine  minister  of  the  gospel  in  taking  up  and 
carrying  on  this  work  ?  Should  he  not  in  some  measure 
be  conscious  of  the  fact  that  he  has  really  been  sent  to 
preach  the  gospel,  and  "  to  serve  God  with  his  spirit  in 
the  gospel  of  his  Son"  ?  We  ourselves,  indeed,  may 
have  erred — that  is  possible  ;  we  may  have  erred  in  our 
calling,  and  conceived  ourselves  to  be  what  we  are  not  ; 
but  that  does  not  alter  the  question,  nor  change  the  con- 
ditions of  a  true  call.  In  Bishop  Burnet's  language, 
"  There  is  something  in  the  heart  of  the  true  minister 
which  convinces  him  that  he  is  inwardly  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  ;"  that  he  is  not  acting  simply  upon  a 
human  resolution,  or  ordinary  outward  idea  of  duty. 

Our  Lord  had  this  overpowering  desire,  or  ruling 
motive,  in  his  ministry.  He  sought  not  self-glory,  but 
devoted  himself,  soul  and  body,  to  the  work  specially 
committed  to  him.  It  was  his  meat  and  drink  to  do 
this  work  ;  and  the  zeal  of  the  Lord's  house  consumed 
him.  A  father  of  the  Church  says,  "  He  who  is  called 
to  instruct  souls  is  called  of  God,  and  not  by  his  own 
ambition  ;  and  what  is  this  call  but  an  inward  incentive 
of  love,  soliciting  us  to  be  zealous  for  the  salvation  of 
our  brethren  ?  So  often  as  he  who  is  engaged  in  preach- 
ing the  Word  shall  feel  his  inward  man  to  be  excited 
with  divine  affections,  so  often  let  him  assure  himself 
that  God  is  there,  and  that  he  is  invited  by  Him  to  seek 
the  good  of  souls." 

The  essence,  then,  of  this  ruling  desire  of  which  we 
have  spoken,  is,  we  think,  such  a  strength  of  love  for 
God  and  man,  given  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  that  a  man  is 
willing  to  devote  his  life  freely  to  working  for  the  good 
of  men's  souls.  "And  they  forsook  all  and  followed  him." 
An  illustrious  English  clergyman  said  :  "  Notwithstand- 
ing the   solemn    responsibility  of   the  pastoral  ofifice,   I 


.  THE   rASTORAL    OFFICE.  9 1 

would  sacrifice  everything  for  it."  It  is  not  that  a  man 
may  not  save  men's  souls  and  be  a  true  servant  of  Christ 
out  of  the  ministry,  but  that  he  is  willing  with  his  whole 
soul  to  devote  his  life  to  this  high  work. 

Bishop  Burnet  says,  in  regard  to  the  sincerity  of  this 
inward  principle,  "  Ask  yourselves  often.  Could  you 
follow  that  course  of  life  if  there  were  no  settled  estab- 
lishment belonging  to  it,  and  if  you  were  to  preach  under 
the  cross,  and  in  danger  of  persecution  ?  For  till  you 
arrive  at  that,  you  are  still  carnal,  and  come  to  the  priest- 
hood for  a  piece  of  bread." 

Yet  we  would  not  wish  to  describe  the  nature  of  this 
inward  call  in  such  a  way  as  to  dishearten  any  true  candi- 
date for  the  Christian  ministry,  for  it  is  a  serious  rrtatter 
to  make  an  error  here,  one  way  or  the  other  ;  and  often 
men,  young  men,  are  not  in  the  habit  of  analyzing  their 
motives  carefully.  We  wish  only  to  bring  out  the  simple 
truth  that  there  is  a  divine  call  to  the  ministry,  and  that 
this  is  not  a  matter  simply  of  human  reason  or  sugges- 
tion, but  that  the  true  call  consists  chiefly  in  the  loving 
purpose  or  desire  to  enter  into  this  work  above  all  others 
as  the  work  which  God  has  appointed  one  to  do.  This 
pure  desire  or  motive  separates  itself,  (i)  From  merely 
prudential  motives.     To  enter  the  ministry 

simply  in  order  to  jjain  a  living- — as  a  "  brod-       ^P^^ra  e 

7-       ,,      c  ^,     .     .  from  pruden- 

stiidinin    — from     that    the      Christian    con-  ,  ■  \—^- 

science  utterly  shrinks.      It  shrinks  also  from 

the  motive,  that   in  the  ministry  one  may  gain  a  smooth 

and  easy  pathway  through  life.      One  of  the  main  reasons 

of  the   vitality   of   the   American    Church  above  that  of 

European  churches  (this  was  Neander's  opinion)  lies  in 

the    fact    that   Americans,   as  a  general   rule,    enter  the 

ministry  from    spiritual    and  not  material  motives  ;  not 

looking  upon   the   ministry  as  a  purely  official  position. 


92  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

We  do  not  say  that  a  candidate  for  the  ministry  can  keep 

out  of  his  mind  all   prudential   considerations,  or  should 

do    so  ;  but  if    these    are    uppermost,     or    come    most 

frequently  to  his  mind,  let  him,  ere  it  be   too  late,  give 

up   a  profession  which  demands  a  true  man,  and   not  a 

hireling.     (2)  From  motives  of  selfish  ambition.     This  we 

need  not  dwell  upon  ;  for  in  deciding  the 
From  motives  .  ,  ^,  .    .  ^  ^.  ,  , 

^.,.        question  01  the  mmistry,  motives  of  personal 
of  ambition.      ^  _  ^  ^ 

ambition  are  to  be  put  aside  as  suggestions 
of  evil.  (3)  From  motives  of  respect  to  the  opinions  of 
parents  or  friends.     The  wishes  of  sincere  friends  should 

have  their  proper  weight,  but  a  man  must 

From  mo  ives  (^g^-j^jg  such  a  question   for  himself  foro  con- 
of  respect  to       .       .  . 

.  ,        ,    scicnttcB.      it  is  a  matter  between  him  and 
wishes  of 

friends.       God  :  if   God   calls,    he    must   obey  ;  and   if 
God    does    not   call,   he    must  not    go.     A 
parent's  rash  vow  cannot    bind  the    conscience  of  the 
child  in  this  matter  ;  the  child  should  act  without  con- 
straint. 

But  this  strong  and  controlling  motive  or  desire  to 
enter  the  ministry — this  supreme  love  to  God  and  to  man 
- — is  not  an  unreasoning  or  impracticable  motive.  It  is 
not  a  passionate  enthusiasm.  It  springs  from  principle, 
and  should  be  accompanied  by  those  internal  and  external 
proofs  of  the  intent  of  Providence  which  render  it  not 
only  possible  to  be  carried  out,  but  which  point  in  some 
measure  directly  to  the  necessity  of  its  being  carried  out. 
In  more  general  language,  one  might  say  that  there  are 
three  things  which  are  essential  for  a  man  to  possess  who 
enters  upon  the  great  and  serious  work  of  the  ministry, 
such,  for  instance,  as  moral  earnestness,  which  belongs 
to  a  nature  like  that  of  John's  disciples,  out  of  whom 
Christ  chose  his  apostles,  hungering  and  thirsting  after 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  93 

righteousness  and  the  coming  of  God's  kingdom  of 
truth.  Then  there  should  be  a  clear  perception  of 
the  sacrifice  involved — that  it  should  be  clearly  ap- 
preciated that  it  does  cost  something  to  follow  Christ 
in  his  ministry  of  reconciliation  ;  and,  above  all,  there 
must  be  faith  in  Christ,  that  involves  faith  in  Christ's 
divine  nature  and  work.  The  original  apostles,  or 
the  eleven,  proved  that  they  had  a  real  call.  When 
in  the  time  of  trial  many  left  Christ  on  account  of  the 
hardness  of  his  sayings,  they  continued  with  him  in 
his  temptations.  They  believed  he  was  the  Holy  One 
of  God,  the  true  Messiah.  In  a  word,  they  had  the  faith 
in  Christ  which  led  them  to  devote  themselves  entirely 
to  his  cause  and  ministry  ;  they  loved  him  enough  and 
their  fellow-men  enough  to  give  themselves  away  to  the 
loving  work  of  his  ministry  for  men.  This  brings  us  to 
the  consideration  of 

.y     3.   Signs  of  a  divine  call. 

When  this  ruling  desire  or  purpose  to  serve  God  in  the 
work  of  the  ministry  is  accompanied  by  other  proofs,  or 
by  outward  providential  circumstances  favor- 
ing it,  the  fact  of  the  calling  would  seem  to     ,.  . 

*=•  '^  divine  call. 

be  in  some  degree  confirmed  ;  and  not  to  re- 
gard these  at  all,  but  simply  to  regard  our  own  impulse 
or  desire,  may  lead  to  a  rash   rather  than  wise  decision 
of  this  momentous  question. 

{a)  A  drawing  of  the  sympathies  freely  thereto. 

One  finds  tha^  his  inclination,  as  well  as  his  positive 
judgment  on  the  score  of  duty,  leads  toward  the  minis- 
try. Something  may  happen  to  prove  to  one  that  his 
sympathies  with  Christ  in  his  work  are  all-powerful  ; 
something  may  show  him  that  his  heart  is  there,  and  not 
in  worldly  business.     The  temptation   of  worldly  success 


94  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

In  some  form  may  have  been  already  offered  him,  and  he 
has  clearly  perceived  its  powerlessness  over  his  heart  : 
this  is  a  great  help  and  confirmation  in  his  choice.  The 
evident  difficulties  and  self-denials  of  the  ministry  also  do 
not  deter  him.  He  is  willing  to  say,  "  '  Here  Lord  am 
I,  send  me  ;  '  through  good  and  evil  report  send  me  ;  I 
am  willing  to  go. "  But  there  are  other  less  vague  and 
more  determinable  signs. 

{b)  General  fitness,  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral, 
for  the  work.  God  would  hardly  call  a  man  to  the 
ministry  who  was  not  in  any  respect  fitted  for  it.  This 
is  a  matter  of  consciousness — of  one's  own  judgment  ap- 
proving of  the  divine  call,  of  the  corroboration  of  his  own 
mind  respecting  his  fitness.  Accompanying  the  desire, 
or  ruling  motive,  there  should  be  this  consciousness, 
however  humble,  of  some  degree  of  fitness  for  the  work 
— that  there  is  at  least  no  decided  disqualification,  e.g., 
no  decided  physical  disability.  It  is  a  man's  work,  and 
requires  an  ordinary  degree  of  physical  health,  "  I  call 
upon  you,  young  men,  because  you  are  strong."  If  a 
man's  lungs  are  too  weak  to  permit  him  to  sustain  the 
labor  of  preaching,  God  counsels  him  by  this  not  to 
attempt  it.  A  young  man  may  indeed  say,  "  I  should 
probably  live  longer  in  some  other  occupation,  but  I  can 
do  more  good  in  the  ministry  in  a  shorter  time."  This, 
we  think,  is  false  reasoning.  Life  may  never  be  pre- 
ferred to  duty,  but  no  servant  of  God  is  to  presume  that 
he  can  do  more  good  in  one  field  in  a  short  time  than  he 
can  in  another  in  a  long  or  longer  time.  A  decided  im- 
pediment in  his  speech,  or  anything  which  renders  one 
incapable  of  attending  to  some  important  portion  of  the 
varied  duties  of  the  ministry,  would  be  a  sufificient  bar 
to  the  ministry — for  other  doors  of  service  are  still  left 
open.     In  like  manner  there  should  be   no  decided  intel- 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  95 

lectual  unfitness  for  the  work.  Some  men  are  mentally 
disqualified  for  the  ministry,  who  may  yet  be  men  of 
decided  ability.  There  is  no  want,  but  rather  there  is  in- 
aptness  of  mind.  They  may  be  persons  of  a  too  reticent, 
subjective,  and  philosophic  cast  of  mind,  who  can  be 
only  philosophers  and  scholars  ;  who  are  not  too  intel- 
lectual, but  too  exclusively  intellectual,  men  ;  who  are 
supremely  interested  in  the  intellectual  side  of  truth. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  may  be  persons  of  too  intensely 
practical  minds,  far  better  adapted  for  lawyers,  business 
men,  civil  engineers,  or  scientific  men.  Such  minds  can 
doubtless  be  more  useful  out  of  the  ministry  than  in  it. 
Such  men,  by  their  practical  abilities  and  their  power  of 
acquiring  wealth,  may  become  the  almoners  and  bene- 
factors of  the  Church,  the  stewards  of  her  treasures, 
creating  the  means  and  giving  the  impulse,  in  all  great 
measures  of  benevolence.  We  would  not  say  that  great 
or  uncommon  talents  are  indispensable  for  the  ministry  ; 
on  the  contrary,  ordinary  and  moderate  abilities,  if  thor- 
oughly consecrated  to  the  work,  have  accomplished  won- 
derful things  in  this  field  ;  but  we  do  contend  that  there 
should  be  some  degree  of  true  mental  adaptation  for  the 
office — some  aptitude  for  preaching,  for  public  address, 
and  for  other  peculiar  offices  of  the  profession.  Andrew 
Fuller  says  (and  this  is  a  good  principle  to  go  upon)  that 
where  God  has  given  a  man  special  qualifications  for  any 
work  this  is  an  evidence  that  He  designs  him  for  that 
work. 

In  like  manner,  there  should  be  no  peculiar  unfitness  in 
point  of  natural  disposition  and  moral  qualifications. 
Some  men  have  too  much  of  the  wild  olive  tree,  or  wild 
and  sour  crab-apple  tree,  in  their  natural  temper,  to  grow 
inside  of  the  Lord's  garden,  to  say  nothing  of  being 
planted  in  the  ministry,  where  cheerfulness,  hopefulness, 


96  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  kindness  of  disposition  are  so  important.  When  the 
heart's  oil  is  dried  up,  one  had  better  do  anything  than 
jangle  and  creak  through  the  ministry  of  divine  love  all 
his  life.  Some  men  also  are  constitutionally  too  weak  in 
will  to  push  on  this  great  and  arduous  work.  Such  in- 
herited or  inherent  infirmities,  and  such  marked  faults  of 
spirit,  disqualify  men  to  lead  and  guide  others.  Added 
to  these  physical  and  moral  disqualifications,  there  may 
be  others  of  a  more  spiritual  nature,  such  as  doubts  in 
religious  things,  which  perhaps  amount  to  the  positive 
obscuration  of  faith.  Every  thinking  mind  will  at  some 
time  be  troubled  with  doubts,  and  they  will  tenaciously 
cling  to  some  persons  to  the  end  of  life  ;  for  Bishop 
Colenso  is  not  the  first  man  who  has  found  difficulties  in 
the  Scriptures,  nor  are  Blanco  White  and  Sterling  the 
only  minds  that  have  seemed  to  lose  their  way  for  a  while 
in  the  realms  of  spirit.  Men  who  are  among  the  hum- 
blest and  best  Christians  frequently  doubt  their  own 
faith  and  salvation.  Ministers  sometimes  increase  their 
theological  doubts  by  their  increase  of  scientific  knowl- 
edge and  their  wider  range  of  thought  and  investigation. 
The  head  is  often  in  mists,  while  the  heart  is  still  moving 
on  in  the  right  direction. 

Now,  there  may  be  troubles  and  doubts  in  the  mind  of 
a  minister  respecting  the  things  of  faith,  which  come  and 
go  like  clouds  over  a  sky,  and  they  may  not  unfit  him  for 
his  work,  for  the  sun  of  faith  still  shines  steadily  ;  but 
there  may  be  such  an  eclipse  of  faith  as  to  disqualify  a 
man  to  preach  the  truth  ;  or,  worse  than  that,  there  may 
be  a  decided  want  of  positive  faith — not  a  hiding,  but  an 
absence,  of  faith.  And  if  a  man,  through  some  idiosyn- 
crasy, or  sincere  doubt,  or  real  disbelief,  cannot  embrace 
with  such  clearness  the  truths  of  Christianity  as  to  be 
able  to  teach  others  with  personal  conviction  of  the  same. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  97 

and  some  degree  of  positive  earnestness,  though  God 
may  love  him  and  lead  him  along  through  and  by  his 
very  doubts  to  higher  points  of  faith,  he  had  better  not 
think  of  the  ministry  until,  at  least,  he  obtains  those 
clearer  views  ;  for  in  Christianity,  certainly  in  this  age  of 
the  Church,  there  is  no  esoteric  and  exoteric  faith,  or 
hidden  truth  for  one  class  of  minds,  which  others  may 
not  share  if  they  will  seek  for  it.  How  can  one  guide 
other  souls  in  divine  things,  how  can  he  console  the  sor- 
rowing, how  can  he  push  his  way  through  the  immense 
difficulties  of  the  ministry,  without  a  pure  faith  that  can 
say,  "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded 
that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed 
unto  Him  against  that  day  "? 

{c)  Providential  events  and  circumstances  which  seem 
more  or  less  distinctly  to  point  to  the  ministiy. 

The  mind  of  the  Spirit  is  to  be  interpreted  by  outward 
providences  as  well  as  by  inward  impulses  ;  and  if  the 
hairs,  of  our  head  are  numb^^rsd,  and  not  a  sparrow  falls 
to  the  ground  without  our  Father,  God  guides  the  out- 
ward as  well  as  the  inward  life  of  a  man,  and  adapts  the 
one  to  the  other  ;  we  should  therefore  endeavor  to  inter- 
pret the  Spirit  of  God  by  the  providence  of  God.  First 
of  all,  let  a  young  man  seek  to  know  what  is  God's  will 
concerning  him,  chiefly  by  asking  God  concerning  it,  but 
also  in  other  ways,  by  studying  the  leadings  of  God's 
providence.  These  providential  guidings  and  leadings 
are  of  too  varied  and  personal  a  nature  to  be  definitely 
specified.  A  man  suddenly  loses  his  eyesight  and  can- 
not be  a  scholar,  or  one  devoted  to  books,  and  does  not 
God  speak  to  him  in  this  to  do  something  else  ?  Ex- 
periences greatly  differ.  Andrew  Fuller  was  led  on 
gradually  by  his  success  in  exhortation  as  a  layman  till 
he  became  interested  in  the  work  of  preaching  and  could 


pS  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

not  go  back.  The  apostle  Paul's  manner  of  call  may  not 
be  ours,  nor  the  apostle  John's,  A  call  in  early  life,  like 
Samuel's  of  old,  is  often  more  signal  and  clear  than  one 
that  comes  later  in  life.  Doors  of  opportunity  unexpect- 
edly opened  for  acquiring  an  education  ;  marked  events  or 
bereavements  at  decisive  junctures  which  lead  the  soul  to 
profound  views  of  duty  ;  circumstances  of  peculiar  grace 
in  one's  own  history  ;  unmistakable  adaptations  to  the 
work  shown  in  collateral  and  subordinate  fields,  such  as 
mission  work  and  Sunday-school  teaching  ;  deliverances 
from  outward  and  inward  perils  ;  the  hedging  up  of  one's 
way,  so  that  a  voice  seems  to  be  heard,  saying,  "  This  is 
the  way  :  walk  therein  ;"  such  pointing  and  controlling 
combinations  of  circumstances  outside  of  one's  own  im- 
mediate control,  and  coming  from  a  higher  source — these 
certainly  should  have  weight.  And  even  the  negative 
fact  that  there  are  no  circumstances  that  form  an  in- 
superable bar  to  one's  becoming  a  minister  should,  with 
other  things,  be  interpreted  favorably.  Ministers  some- 
times speak  of  events  in  their  personal  history  which 
formed  the  turning-points  of  their  resolution  to  become 
pastors.  The  case  of  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  born 
A.D.  340,  is  an  illustrious  example.  The  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances which  surrounded  and  drew  him,  as  with  a 
net,  into  the  ministry,  are  striking.  He  was  descended 
from,  a  pious  ancestry.  In  an  empire  which  was  yet  but 
partially  Christianized,  his  family  had  embraced  the 
Christian  faith,  a  century  or  more  before.  One  of  his 
ancestors  had  suffered  martyrdom  for  the  faith  during  the 
persecution  of  Diocletian  ;  he  had  martyr's  blood  in  his 
veins.  His  sister,  in  whose  charge  he  was  left,  was  re- 
nowned for  her  piety.  His  father,  being  a  man  of  the 
highest  civil  dignity,  one  of  the  three  prefects  of  the 
Roman   Empire,    intended   him   to  occupy  a  civil  post. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  99 

Probably  another  course  of  life  was  no  more  thought  of 
for  him  than  it  would  have  been  for  the  son  of  the 
emperor.  He  was  appointed  praetor  of  the  provinces  of 
Liguria  and  Emilia,  of  which  Milan  was  the  capital. 
Just  before  he  came  to  his  post — which  is  another  prov- 
idential circumstance — Auxentius,  the  Arian  bishop  of 
Milan,  died,  and  on  account  of  the  excited  state  of  re- 
ligious controversy  and  party  strife  in  the  diocese,  there 
could  be  no  election.  At  one  of  the  meetings  the 
popular  feeling  was  so  violent  that  there  was  likelihood 
of  a  riot  in  the  church  itself.  Ambrose,  as  the  civil 
governor,  came  in  to  restore  order.  A  child's  voice  was 
heard,  crying  out,  "  Ambrose,  bishop  !"  The  people, 
with  that  instinct  which  sometimes  makes  the  vox popiili 
the  vox  Dei,  took  up  the  cry,  and  Ambrose  was  immedi- 
ately chosen  Bishop  of  Milan.  He  strove  to  evade  the 
call  by  every  means  possible  ;  but  the  people,  who 
already  knew  him  better  than  he  knew  himself,  and  had 
seen  in  him  great  qualities,  insisted  upon  his  acceptance. 
The  pressure  of  these  events  at  last  overcame  his 
scruples  ;  and,  as  the  historian  Bohringer  says,  he  always 
regarded  his  call,  in  his  inmost  heart,  as  one  from  God. 
The  eminent  qualifications  of  the  man  for  the  place  soon 
were  manifest.  The  true  minister  of  Christ  was  in  him. 
He  gave  away  his  immense  estate  for  benevolent  purposes, 
and  devoted  himself  to  his  work  with  apostolic  zeal  and 
singleness  of  object.  He  was  an  eloquent  and  unwearied 
preacher  of  the  Word  ;  he  numbered  Augustine  among 
his  converts.  He  checked  the  Arian  heresy,  opposed  the 
last  desperate  assaults  of  classic  paganism,  and  resisted 
the  whole  force  of  the  imperial  power  in  vindication  of 
the  purity  of  Christian  communion. 

There  may  be  sometimes  too  much  made  of  what  are 
called  providential  circumstances,  so   much  so  as  to  lead 


lOO  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

one  into  superstition.  Everj^  man  loves  to  think  that 
there  is  something  peculiar  in  his  own  history,  and  that  in 
some  way  he  is  a  favorite  of  God  ;  but,  nevertheless,  the 
directing  finger  of  God  in  the  events  of  one's  own  personal 
history  is  to  be  reverently  studied  and  heeded,  for  of  the 
good  man,  at  least,  God  says,  "  I  will  guide  him  by  mine 
eye."  De  Ravignan  said,  "I  am  not  made  to  be  a_^^t\ 
author  ;"  religious  things  alone  satisfied  his  soul.  But 
the  call  of  God  is  sometimes  not  according  to  circum- 
stances, but  seems  to  be  sovereign,  though  there  doubt- 
less are  true,  if  hidden,  reasons  for  it.  Amos  7  :  14, 
15  :  "I  was  no  prophet,  neither  was  I  a  prophet's  son  ;  but 
I  was  an  herdsman,  and  a  gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit,  and 
the  Lord  took  me  as  I  followed  the  flock,  and  the  Lord 
said  unto  me.  Go,  prophecy  unto  my  people  Israel." 
God  in  His  calling  regards  men  not  on  the  ground  of 
their  circumstances  but  of  their  fitness  ;  that  they  have 
souls  fitted  to  receive  and  express  His  communications 
to  men.  Now  a  fisherman,  now  a  collector  of  the  rev- 
enue, now  a  scholar,  now  a  prince  is  called. 

(<^)  A  call  to  preach  from  the  Church.  This  is  also 
indirectly  a  call  of  God,  who  rules  the  affairs  of  His 
Church,  and  especially  in  so  important  a  matter  as  the 
appointment  of  a  spiritual  guide  of  His  people.  There 
is  order  in  God's  house,  and  He  has  so  ordered  that  a 
minister  derives  his  authority  and  commission  to  preach 
from  Himself  through  His  Church.  The  external  call 
which  comes  from  the  Church  repeats,  or  rather  gives 
expression  to,  the  internal  call  of  God.  We  have  great 
faith  in  the  true  call  of  the  Church.  Sometimes,  no 
doubt,  it  is  not  a  true  call,  when  made  rashly,  or  passion- 
ately, or  selfishly  ;  but  when  it  has  been  made  with 
prayer  and  humble  dependence  on  God's  will  and  guid- 
ing   spirit,   it    is  commonly    right.      The  history    of    the 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  loi 

Church  proves  this.  True  ministers  are,  as  a  general 
rule,  placed  in  positions  best  fitted  for  them,  not  only 
for  their  own  growth,  but  for  the  highest  good  of  others. 
God  shapes  good  men  for  their  places,  and  their  places 
for  them,  and  sometimes  out  of  the  most  unpromising 
materials  He  brings  the  most  glorious  results. 

The  more  the  number  of  good  and  faithful  ministers  is 
increased,  the  better  ;  but  the  standard  of  induction  into 
the  ministry  should  certainly  not  be  lowered.  There  is 
perhaps  an  increasing  tendency  to  do  this,  and  there 
are  sometimes  superficial,  mercenary,  and  every-day 
views  of  the  divine  ofifice,  an  indecent  haste  in  enter- 
ing the  ministry,  and  an  unpardonable  irregularity  in 
the  mode  of  entering  it  which  tend  to  degrade  the  sacred- 
ness  and  lessen  the  ultimate  usefulness  of  the  pastoral 
office.  It  is  often  the  cry  that  there  is  a  lamentable 
dearth  of  ministers.     Better  this  than  unfit  ones,  ii 

J   Sec.  7.    Ordination. 

When  a  young  man  has  finished  his  preparatory  studies 
and  still  remains  strong  in  his  purpose  to  serve  in  the 
ministry,  he  is  sometimes  in  danger  of  putting  off  his 
actual  work  in  the  pastoral  field  too  long  ;  or,  it  may  be, 
on  the  contrary,  he  is  in  danger  of  being  ordained  to  this 
sacred  calling  too  soon.  The  saintly  Leighton  did  not 
enter  the  ministry  (take  holy  orders)  until  he  was  thirty 
years  of  age,  according  to  his  avowed  opinion  that 
"  some  men  preach  too  soon  and  some  too  long."  Our 
Lord  did  not  commence  his  public  ministry  before  he 
was  thirty  years  old.  Some  of  the  apostles  were  men 
evidently  of  middle  age,  though  others  were  young  men  ; 
but  there  is  no  apostolic  rule  left  us  fixing  the  age  of 
men  who  begin  to  preach  the  gospel  of   Christ.     Yet  an 


I02  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ordination  into  the  Christian  ministry  which  Chrysostom, 
Augustine,  Luther,  and  other  illustrious  preachers 
entered  upon  with  fear  and  trembling,  should  assuredly 
not  be  approached  in  a  rash  spirit,  but  with  deliberate  and 
prayerful  thoughtfulness.  One  takes  upon  him  profound 
obligations.  He  undertakes  the  care  of  human  souls. 
The  apostle  Paul  retired  into  the  desert  of  Arabia  when 
called  of  God  to  preach  the  gospel.  Our  Lord's  tempta- 
tion in  the  wilderness  preceded  his  proclamation  of  the 
heavenly  kingdom. 

As  between  the  Church  and  the  candidate,  the  proba- 
tion should    surely  be  of  a  reasonably   long  duration,  so 

that  the  two  parties  concerned  should  become 
Probation. 

suf^ciently    acquainted      with     each    other. 

Anciently  in  New  England  the  probation  was  of  six 
months'  continuance,  sometimes  a  year.  The  trial  for 
licensure  in  the  Church  of  Scotland  is  said  to  be  of  a 
most  elaborate  kind,  and  we  mention  it  merely  to  show 
the  Scotch  estimate  of  the  high  and  responsible  nature 
of  the  ofifice  that  is  assumed.  The  presbyters  of  the 
district  around  are  consulted  in  order  that  objections,  if 
there  be  any,  may  be  taken  against  the  candidate.  If 
no  objections  are  made  the  presbyters  proceed  to  make 
trial  of  the  young  man's  attainments,  his  doctrinal 
knowledge,  piety,  learning,  and  character.  Five  separate 
discourses  are  prescribed  to  him — one  an  *'  Ecce  Jesiini' 
in  Latin  ;  another,  an  exercise  in  Greek  criticism  ; 
another,  a  homily  ;  another,  a  discourse  "  ad  cleriint,"  to 
ascertain  his  gifts  in  expounding  the  Scriptures  ;  an- 
other, a  regular  sermon  to  know  his  ability  to  preach 
to  the  people.  These  trials  last  half  a  year,  and  being 
found  sufficient,  he  is  permitted  to  preach  to  the 
churches  ;  but  he  is  not  yet  ordained,  for  the  Scotch 
Church  ordains  no  man  without  a  flock.     All  this  may  be 


/ 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  103 

esteemed  by  some  to  be  absurdly  minute  and  prolonged  ; 
but  the  examination  for  ordination  should  assuredly  not 
be  permitted  to  lose  its  character  of  a  trial  of  such  out- 
ward qualifications  as  may  be  in  some  measure  fairly  esti- 
mated by  the  judgment  of  wise  men.  It  should  be  a 
hond  fide  trial  of  the  candidate's  fitness.  The  different 
departments  of  theological  education  should  be  assigned 
to  different  and  proper  members  of  the  examining  body. 
The  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  of  the  Script- 
ures should  be  tested,  as  upon  these  the  foundation  of  a 
true  interpretation,  and  of  true  preaching,  is  built  ;  and 
much  more  account  should  be  made  than  is  sometimes 
made  of  the  exegetical  department,  for  he  who  is  a  good 
exegete  and  has  a  disciplined  mind  will  make  himself  a 
good  theologian  and  preacher.  The  philosophic  mind  is 
of  slower  growth,  but  in  the  essentials  of  the  Christian 
faith  and  the  rational  co-ordination  of  the  relations  of 
divine  truth,  one  who  is  to  become  a  teacher  of  truth 
should  be  severely  and  broadly  trained. 

Ordination  itself  may  be  defined  to  be  a  solemn  induc- 
tion by  the  Church  into  the  pastoral  office  of 

1        .  ,     ,  1,     ,  11  ,         Ordination 

one  who   is  regularly  called  and  chosen   by 

the  Church  to  be  its  pastor. 

The  word  "  ordain"  is  found  really  but  twice  in  the 
New  Testament  in  the  sense  of  setting  apart  to  the  func- 
tion of  an  office — Acts  14  :  23  and  Titus  i  :  5.  In  the 
other  instances  where  translated  "  ordain,"  the  meaning 
is  not  so  apparent. 

Ordination  is  a  scriptural  ceremony,  having  a  sacred 
impressiveness  and  significance,  like  a  marriage  cere- 
mony ;  it  is  not  to  be  frequently  or  lightly  repeated,  but 
is  done  once  for  all  ;  for  it  has  reference  to  a  permanent 
office  and  work,  a  work  to  which  the  subject  has  devoted 
his  life. 


I04  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  ceremonial  act  itself  of  ordination,  or  of  "  the 
laying  on  of  hands,"  is  one  that  is  symbolical  of  the 
communication  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  given  for  a  particular 
work,  in  answer  to  prayer,  as  in  Acts  6  :  6  and  14  :  23, 
and  in  like  manner,  though  not  here  applied  to  the  pres- 
byteral  or  ministerial  office,  in  Acts  19  :  6. 

The  symbol  is  derived  from  the  Old  Testament,  as  in 
Numbers  27  :  18,  20  ;  Deut.  34  :  9,  and  Gen.  48  :  14,  where 
it  probably  signified  a  kind  of  benediction,  or  the  draw- 
ing down  of  God's  blessing  on  the  person  and  his  work, 

Neander  says,  "  The  consecration  to  offices  was  con- 
ducted in  the  following,  manner  :  After  those  persons  to 
whom  the  performance  belonged  had  laid  their  hands  on 
the  head  of  the  candidate  (a  symbolic  action  borrowed 
from  the  Hebrew  -^^'Pi?),  they  besought  the  Lord  that 
He  would  grant  what  this  symbol  denoted — the  imparta- 
tion  of  the  gifts  of  His  Spirit  for  carrying  on  the  office 
thus  undertaken  in  his  name.  If,  as  it  was  presumed, 
the  whole  ceremony  corresponded  to  its  intent,  and  the 
requisite  disposition  existed  in  those  for  whom  it  was 
performed,  there  was  reason  for  considering  the  com- 
munication of  the  spiritual  gifts  necessary  for  the  office, 
as  connected  with  the  consecration  performed  in  the 
name  of  Christ.  And  since  Paul,  from  this  point  of  view, 
designated  the  whole  of  the  solemn  proceeding  (without 
separating  it  into  its  various  elements)  by  that  which  was 
its  external  symbol  (as,  in  scriptural  phraseology,  a  single 
act  of  a  transaction  consisting'  of  .several  parts,  and  some- 
times that  which  was  most  striking  to  the  senses,  is  often 
mentioned  for  the  whole),  he  required  of  Timothy  that 
he  should  seek  to  revive  afresh  the  spiritual  gifts  that  he 
had  received  by  the  laying  on  of  hands,"  * 


'  "  Planting  and  Training,"  cap.  v.,  p,  97, 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  105 

The  idea  of  ordination  in  the  New  England  churches 

has  its  essence,  not   in   the  laying  on   of  the  hands    of 

ministers  or  bishops,   and,  through  this,    of 

imparting  to  the  subject  an  apostoHc  power       ^^^^  °f 

or  supernatural  influence  ;  but   in   the  actual 

in  New- 
choice  or  appointment,  by  the  people,  of  the      Ene-land 

minister  to   his   office,  while   the   ordination     churches. 

service  is  the  formal  induction  into  office. 

In  the  "  Cambridge  Platform,"  (p.  (>(>)  it  is  said, 
"  This  ordination  we  account  as  nothing  else  but  the 
solemn  putting  a  man  into  his  place  and  office  in  the 
Church,  to  which  he  had  a  right  before  his  election." 

Hooker,  in  the  preface  to  his  "  Survey,"  says, 
"  Ordination  is  installing  of  an  officer  into  the  office  to 
which  he  was  previously  called." 

"Cambridge  Platform,"  c.  9,  sec.  2:  "The  essence 
and  substance  of  the  outward  call  of  an  ordinary  officer 
doth  not  consist  in  his  ordination,  but  in  his  voluntary 
and  free  election  by  the  Church,  and  his  accepting  of 
that  relation.  Ordination  doth  not  constitute  an  officer, 
nor  give  him  the  essentials  of  his  office.  The  apostles 
were  elders  without  imposition  of  the  hands  of  men. 
Paul  and  Barnabas  were  officers  before  that  imposition  of 
hands." 

The  old  Puritan  authorities  deny,  also,  that  even  a 
council  of  ministers  is  necessary  for  the  act  of  ordination. 
Richard  Mather  and  John  Cotton  say,  that  though  it 
was  the  practice  to  call  in  the  aid  of  other  churches,  yet 
that  the  power  of  ordination  was  in  the  Church  alone. 

The  famous  John  Robinson  wrote  :  "  If  the  Church 
without  officers  may  elect,  it  may  also  ordain  officers  ;  if 
it  have  the  power  and  commission  of  Christ  for  the  one, 
and  that  the  greater,  it  hath  also  for  the  other,  which  is 
the  less."     These  authorities  maintain  that  the  original 


lo6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

right  to  ordain  a  minister  over  itself  inheres  in  a  church  ; 
but  still  it  might  be  asked,  Can  even  the  Church  rightly 
ordain  a  totally  improper  person  ?  Are  there  not  script- 
ural and  divinely  prescribed  qualifications  ?  Must  not 
the  true  minister  first  be  called  of  God  and  then  called  of 
the  Church  ?  Does  not  Christ — not  the  Church,  or  a 
council  of  churches — make  and  call  his  true  minister  ? 
The  Church  or  the  council  may  of^cially  make  a 
minister  ;  but  it  has  surely  no  right  to  induct  an  unfit 
person  into  the  sacred  office — 

"...  and  lay  not  careless  hands 
On  skulls  that  cannot  teach  and  will  not  learn." 

Milton  says  :  "  As  for  ordination,  what  is  it  but  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  an  outward  sign  or  .symbol  of  admis- 
sion ?  It  creates  nothing  ;  it  confers  nothing  ;  it  is  the 
inward  calling  of  God  that  makes  a  minister,  and  his  own 
painful  study  and  diligence  that  manures  and  improves 
his  ministerial  gifts." 

Ordination,  therefore,  in  this  view  of  it,  is  not  an  opus 
opei'atinn,  or  something  conferring  mysterious  power  by 
the  actual  imposition  of  hands  ;  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
considered  to  be  an  apostolical  and  not  unimportant  rite, 
"  It  is  not  an  act  of  power,  but  of  order."  It  may  not 
be  absolutely  essential,  but  it  is  necessary  to  good  order  in 
the  Church  and  in  the  ministry  ;  and  its  modern  neglect 
is  a  cause  of  great  evil,  lessening  the  dignity,  efificiency, 
and  permanency  of  the  ministry.  But  the  Church  has 
no  right  to  ordain  an  entirely  unfit  or  unworthy  man,  one 
totally  opposed  to  the  scriptural  idea  of  the  ministry. 
Christ,  we  hold,  is  higher  than  the  Church,  and  the 
minister,  though  placed  in  office  by  the  Church,  is 
primarily  called  and  delegated  by  Christ,  and  derives  his 
authority  from  Him.      He  is  first  called  of  God,  and  then 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  107 

he  is  called  of  the  Church.  The  Church  cannot  make  a 
true  minister  of  the  gospel ;  Christ  alone  can  do  it.  The 
hierarchical  idea  of  ordination  in  vogue  even  in  some 
Protestant  churches  is  maintained,  among  other  argu- 
ments, by  the  assertion  that  the  apostles  ordained  the 
seven  deacons,  and  consecrated  James  bishop  of  Jerusa- 
lem, Timothy  bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  Titus  bishop  of 
Crete.  But  this  claim.,  we  think,  could  hardly  be  estab- 
lished. Timothy  was  ordained  by  *'  presbyters"  to  take 
temporary  charge  of  the  church  at  Ephesus  in  the  absence 
of  the  apostles,  not  to  be  its  paramount  and  permanent 
head.  Titus  was  sent  as  an  evangelist,  or  agent  of  the 
apostles,  to  teach  the  new-made  Christians  of  Crete,  and 
to  organize  them  into  churches,  and  he  was  told  by  the 
apostles  "  to  come  to  him  at  Nicopolis"  before  winter. 
He  had  no  settled  episcopate  at  Crete.  In  like  manner, 
James  was  bishop  not  from  ofifice  as  thereto  ordained, 
but  from  dignity  as  a  revered  and  honored  apostle.  His 
words  "  my  sentence  is"  are  capable  of  other  than  an 
hierarchical  explanation.  This  idea  of  a  regular  minis- 
terial succession  in  the  order  of  bishops  has  been  carried  to 
an  indefensible  and  puerile  extreme.  At  the  monastery 
of  Etchmadzin  in  Armenia  the  mummy-hand  of  St. 
Gregory  the  Illuminator  is  kept,  which  is  used  to  this  day 
in  the  consecration  of  every  patriarch,  who,  being 
touched  by  it,  receives  the  grace  direct  from  the  founder 
of  the  Armenian  Church.' 

There  are  many  vexed  questions  in  regard  to  the  true 
nature  of  ordination,  its  temporary  or  its  indelible  char- 
acter, its  relations  to  the  standing  of  the  ministry  outside 
of  the  local  pastorate,  the  distinction  between  ordination 
and    installation,   and    the  real  measure  of  power  which 


'  Bryce's  "  Transcaucasia  and  Ararat,"  p.  303. 


io8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ordination  confers  ;  which  questions  we  are  not  called 
upon  to  discuss  ;  but,  while  we  respect  the  views  of  ex- 
perienced men  who  differ  from  us,  we  are  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  the  circumstances  of  the  age  and  the  time, 
guided  by  a  Christian  instinct,  must,  to  some  extent,  rule 
in  this  matter,  which  is  of  considerable,  though  not  of 
vital,  importance. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  this  ancient  cerem.ony 
of  ordination,  which  has  in  itself  often  so  much  of  spir- 
itual impressiveness  and  quickening,  which  is  so  beau- 
tiful and  solemn,  should  seem  to  be  losing  its  power  and 
place  in  the  Church,  and  that  a  kind  of  commercial  and 
every-day  idea  is  attached  to  the  relation  of  a  minister  to 
his  people.  In  primitive  New  England  country  commu- 
nities it  still,  happily,  retains  its  sacred  import  and  hal- 
lowed associations.  We  quote  words  that  express  a  true 
sentiment,  though  applied  to  a  different  land  and  peo- 
ple :  "  I  agree  with  you  certainly,  that  every  sacred 
solemnity  has  in  it  something  impressive,  provided  it  be 
well  performed  and  reverently  attended  to  ;  but  yet,  if 
you  would  see  a  real  ordination,  go  to  some  out-of-the- 
way  village  that  is  with  a  hearty  interest  receiving  a  well- 
intentioned  young  man,  who,  on  his  side,  is  consecrating 
to  it  his  first  strength,  with  tears  and  prayers  :  that  is  a 
virgin  marriage  !"  ' 

John  Wesley  denied  the  necessity,  but  not  the  ex- 
pediency, of  ordination  ;  and  he  himself  at  Bristol,  Eng- 
land, ordained  a  minister  to  the  new  American  Meth- 
odist churches.  He  also  established  certain  tests  to  be 
applied  to  lay-preachers,  and  many  of  these  early  Meth- 
odist lay  preachers  became  afterward  regularly  ordained 
ministers.      "  He  (Wesley)  condemned  and  fought  against 


^  "  Manse  of  Mastland." 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  109 

the  admission  of  laymen  as  preachers  till  he  found  him- 
self with  none  but  laymen  to  preach.  When  once  driven 
to  employ  lay-helpers  in  his  ministry,  he  made  their  work 
a  new  and  attractive  feature  in  his  system."  '  In  like 
manner,  the  New  England  churches  hold  that  ordination, 
while  it  is  not  necessary  to  constitute  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  is,  nevertheless,  expedient  and  orderly,  and  its 
omission,  except  in  cases  of  real  necessity,  would  go  to 
destroy  the  feeling  of  responsibility  in  church  and  pas- 
tor, and  would  be  injurious  to  the  church's  permanent 
prosperity. 

In  regard  to  lay-preaching,  it  is  undoubtedly  true,  as 
has    been    stated,   that  lay-preaching  was    practised    ex- 
tensively in  the  earliest  age  of  the  Church. 
In  the  Apostolic  Church  itself,  lay-preaching,  . 

or  exhortation,  was  practised  under  the 
supervision  and  regulation  of  the  presbyter  of  the 
church  ;  and  at  the  present  day  it  is  not  only  lawful,  but 
greatly  demanded,  where  there  are  fit  men  to  do  it  and 
where  the  laborers  are  few.  A  spiritual  earnestness,  a 
freshness,  and  a  practical  application  to  the  wants  of  the 
people,  are  often  found  in  lay-preaching,  which  do  not 
always  appear  in  the  routine  of  regular  preaching  ;  but 
this  does  not  conflict  with  the  permanent  institution  and 
work  of  the  regular  ministry. 

Lay-preaching,  it  is  said,  implies  a  more  ready  Insight 
Into  human  nature,  more  boldness,  and  energy  as  well  as 
sympathy  In  dealing  with  common  men  than  regular 
preachers  have  ;  true,  but  should  not  ministers  learn 
from  this  the  lesson  that  they  should  not  themselves  be 
wanting  in  these  qualities  ?  That  lay-preachers  should 
be  needed    because    the    reijular  ministers  do  not  reach 


'  Green's  "  Hist,  of  English  People,"  p.  709. 


J 


no  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

men,  this  is  a  reason  that  brings  shame  to  the  ministry. 
The  ministry  must  be  made  to  reach  the  people,  by 
humility  and  consecration,  by  sagacity  and  zeal,  by  per- 
sonal labors  with  the  lowest  and  vilest,  by  a  plain,  pithy, 
encouraging,  and  interesting  style  of  preaching.  Not 
more  than  one  in  ten  English  workmen  ever  enter  a  place 
of  public  worship,  and  the  proportion  of  absentees  is 
fearfully  increasing  in  our  country.  Ministers  should 
turn  themselves  into  evangelists,  and,  as  it  were,  lay- 
preachers.  The  true  reason  for  lay-preaching  is  the 
actual  failure  of  regular  preachers,  their  lack  rather  than 
their  lameness.  Such  a  man,  for  instance,  as  Mr. 
Moody,  as  both  hierarchical  and  unhierarchical  churches 
confess,  has  shown  himself  thus  far  almost  an  ideal  lay- 
preacher  from  whom  the  regular  minister  may  learn.  In 
his  unconsciousness  and  simplicity,  the  absolute  sincerity 
of  his  belief,  his  whole-souled  earnestness,  and  his  conse- 
cration to  his  work,  he  is  a  fine  example  of  a  lay-preacher. 
He  talks  right  on,  having  reason  and  good  sense  in  what 
he  says,  and  showing  familiarity  with  the  Scriptures.  His 
pertinent  illustrations  are  drawn  from  his  own  observa- 
tion and  experience.  He  has  nothing  to  gain  but  God's 
approval  and  the  conversion  and  good  of  men.  He  goes 
to  work  like  a  skilful  soldier,  determined  to  win.  Yet  in 
many  points  also  he  is  not  altogether  an  example  of  a 
thoroughly  educated  pastor,  nor  could  he  assume  the  re- 
sponsibility of  a  work  that  supposes  and  requires  a  whole 
lifetime  of  well-directed,  quiet,  and  sustained  effort. 

Sec.  8.    Trials  and  Rczvards  of  the  Pastor. 

It  is  impossible  that  one  who  has  not  yet  entered  upon 
the  work  of  a  pastor  should  know  (and  it  would  not  be 
well  for   him    to  know)  all    the    difliculties    that  attend  a 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  iii 

faithful  pastorate  ;  but  it  is  right  that  he  should  have 
beforehand  some  general  idea  of  what  they  are  or  may 
be  ;  else,  like  a  ship  unfitted  for  rough  weather,  he  is  apt 
to  be  discouraged  and  thrown  back  at  the  outset,  by  the 
first  storm  he  encounters. 

The  Scriptures  hang  out  premonitory  lights  here,  as  in 
2  Tim.  4:5;  2  Tim.  2:3;  John  15  :  20  ;  John  16  :  33. 

Erasmus  wrote,  ''  Evangelmni  Christi  sincere  prcedi- 
caiitibus  minquajn  dccst  crux.''  Vinet  ("Pas.  Theol.," 
p.  54)  says  of  the  pastor,  "  His  life  is  a  life  of  consecra- 
tion, without  which  it  has  no  meaning.  His  career  is  a 
perpetual  sacrifice,  which  includes  all  that  belongs  to 
him." 

The  young  pastor,  with  a  courageous  and  trustful 
heart,  feeling  the  greatness  of  his  vocation,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  greatness  of  the  arm  he  leans  upon,  should 
prepare  himself  for  trials  ;  and  what  great  and  worthy 
work  does  not  have  its  trials  ? 

Let  us,  then,  endeavor  (and  we  shall  be  brief)  to  con- 
sider some  of  the  difficulties  and  temptations  which  are 
almost  inevitable  to  him  who,  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  is 
especially  called  upon  "  to  endure  hardness  as  a  good 
soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."  Among  those  of  a  more  out- 
ward nature  might  be  mentioned — 

id)  The  opposition  of  the  world  and  of  ^\'orldly  men  to 

the  truth.      The  outward  world  presses  every 

way  hardly    upon   a   devoted  teacher   of   the      ,  , 

J  J       ^  of  the  world. 

inner,  spiritual  truth. 

All  men  need  the  truth,  and  know  that  they  need  it  ; 
yet  when  the  truth  is  faithfully  brought  home  to  their 
consciences,  it  encounters  a  strong  opposition  ;  and  in 
order  to  meet  this  forcible  resistance  of  the  natural  heart, 
the  minister  of  Christ  has  but  the  weapons  of  truth,  of 
reason,  of   God's  Word.      He  is  soon   stripped  of  confi- 


112  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

dence  in  human  strength  in  this  contest  with  the  power- 
ful forces  of  human  will.  Constantly  to  manifest  the 
truth  to  men's  hearts  and  consciences,  whatever  their 
opposition  may  be,  and  whatever  the  varied  and  com- 
bined antagonism  to  the  truth  of  the  world  may  be,  re- 
quires one  to  be  braced  up  by  God's  own  hand  for  the 
strife,  otherwise  he  will  soon  faint. 

{b)  The  liability  to  be  misinterpreted  in  his  words,  acts, 
and  motives.      This  was  true  in  the  apostles' 

^  ^.  time  in  regard  to  Christian  teachers, 

tation.  ° 

The  pastor's  only  care  should  be  to  please 
God  ;  for  motives  cannot  be  perfectly  apprehended  by 
men  ;  and  even  his  acts  are  but  points  or  fragments  of 
his  character,  sometimes  the  best  and  sometimes  the 
worst. 

A  minister  must  be  faithful  both  to  God  and  to  man, 
although  his  faithfulness  may  be  accounted  narrow  zeal, 
and  his  acts  of  love  to  be  acts  of  selfishness, 

A  minister  should  cultivate  a  large-hearted  and  loving 
patience  which  is  like  a  sea  into  which  all  the  misappre- 
hensions, and  even  enmities,  of  men  shall  immediately 
sink  and  be  forever  forgotten. 

{c)  His  best-directed  efforts  to  do  good  are  sometimes 
apparently  without  fruit.      So  said  the  disciples  of  old, 

"  We  have  toiled  all    the  night,  and   taken 

Fruitless  i.i  •        "  i     ^  ^u  j  <«  t  i 

,  ,  nothmg,      but  the  command  came.      Launch 

labors.  ^  ' 

out  into  the  deep,  and  let  down  your  nets 
for  a  draught  ;  and  their  net  brake  for  the  multitude  of 
fishes."  The  pain  and  disappointment  endured  by  a 
young  minister  connected  with  his  preaching  alone 
are  often  great.  He  may  make  a  laborious  prepara- 
tion ;  he  may  pray  over  his  sermon  ;  he  may  have  the 
strongest  hopes  that  his  preaching  will  be  successful  ; 
but  though  strong  and  assured  of  success  before  he  goes 


THE   PASTORAL    OFFICE.  113 

into  the  pulpit,  his  sermon  falls  lifeless.  His  imagina- 
tion dwells  upon  his  failure.  He  thinks  it  is  clearly  not 
his  vocation  to  preach  ;  he  had  better  be  anywhere  than 
in  the  pulpit.  A  most  successful  laborer  said  of  himself 
when  he  was  a  young  preacher  :  "In  the  evening  of  the 
Sabbath  I  could  hardly  look  anybody  in  the  face,  because  , 
of  the  imperfections  I  saw  in  my  performances  in  the  day 
past."  God  may  thus  permit  a  young  minister  to  toil  on 
for  years  without  giving  him  the  outward  evidences  of 
success.  Other  churches  around  may  be  visited  with  the 
signs  of  renewed  life,  and  his  own  may  rem.ain  like  a 
granite  rock  in  a  green  meadow.  We  merely  point  out 
this  peculiar  kind  of  trial  ;  and  it  is  a  great  one  to  some 
ministers,  although  others  are  led  through  pleasanter  and 
easier  paths. 

{d^  The  death  of  the  impenitent  of  his  congregation. 

No  one  can  prejudge,  in  any  case,  the  eternal  judg- 
ment of  the  righteous  and  loving  God,  nor 

should  we  desire  to   do   so  ;  but  it  may  be    . 

impenitent, 
that  some  will  be  taken  out  of  this  life  with- 
out showing  the  slightest  evidence  of  repentance  or  of 
the  new  life  of  God  in  their  souls.  A  minister  cannot 
but  solemnly  ask  himself  in  such  cases,  "  Would  it  have 
been  different  had  I  been  personally  more  faithful  to 
such  souls  ?" 

(r)  The  apathy  and  lifelessness  of  the  Church. 

One  may  be  called  to  a  church  whose  spiritual  life  has 
almost  run  out,  that'  apparently  lives  on  its  past  useful- 
ness   and    is    orthodoxly    dead.      Now,  if  a 

young    minister    attempts    to   bear    all    the      J?f  '^.  ° 
^         ^  ^  Church, 

burden   of  a   dead   church   it   will    certainly 

crush  him  ;   and  until  he   learns  "  a  more  excellent  way" 

he  is  in  danger  of  sinking  under  his  efforts  to  revive  that 

which  God  only  can  restore. 


114  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

{/)  Extraordinary  trials  and  persecutions. 
The  normal  state  of  the  Christian  Church  in  the  world 
is  not  a  peaceful  one,  and  the  times  of  trouble  and  per- 
secution  may  at   any  moment   arise  ;    and   it 

.  ,      may  be  for  the  salvation  of  the  Church  that 
nary  trials.  "^ 

persecutions  and  afflictions  shall  fall  upon  it, 

as  they  did  upon  the  Reformed  churches  of  France  in  a 
time  of  supposed  tranquillity  and  peace.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  recent  troublous  times  of  war,  which,  for 
a  while  at  least,  had  a  purifying  and  elevating  influence 
upon  the  Church,  we  have  always  lived  in  such  peaceful 
and  prosperous  days  ^that  we  think  this  to  be  the  regular 
condition  of  things  ;  but  a  change  may  come  in  this 
world  of  wickedness  as  suddenly  as  a  storm  rises  ;  and 
pastor  and  people  may  be  thrown  into  great  trials,  perils, 
and  tribulations.  It  is  for  the  pastor  to  be  prepared  for 
this,  and  he  must  not  be  a  hireling  to  flee  before  the 
danger.  He  should  possess  something  of  the  martyr- 
spirit — that  of  Rogers,  Hooper,  Latimer,  and  the  old 
French  Reformed  pastors,  who  were  ready  to  suffer  for 
and  with  their  flocks.  Vinet  says,  "  For  a  moment  God 
may  leave  us  in  an  easy  position,  but  the  ministry  implies 
the  most  dangerous  situations  ;  it  is  always  a  complete 
sacrifice  of  body  and  soul  to  the  service  of  the  Church." 
To  this  list  of  outward  trials  might  be  added  the  more 
commonplace  but  often  severe  one  of  small  salary  and 
pecuniary  difficulties,  which  are  not  infrequently  the  oc- 
casion of  untold  anxiety  and  suffering  to  able  and  worthy 
pastors.  If  the  churches  do  not  cultivate  a  higher-toned 
conscience  in  this  respect,  a  much  lower  class  of  minis- 
ters, intellectually  and  morally,  will  be  brought  into  the 
pulpits  of  the  land,  and  the  cause  of  true  religion  will 
greatly  suffer. 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  115 

(^g)    Insensibility    in   one's   own    heart,    arising     from 
familiarity  with  the  most  solemn  truths. 

This   is  a   trial  of  a  more   inward   nature  than  any  we 
have  mentioned.      It  was  a  theory  of  Bishop 
Butler,    that   passive   impressions,    by   being  1  1 1  y 

often  repeated,  tend  to  grow  weaker,  while  familiaritv 
active  impressions,  as  well  as  active  habits, 
are  strengthened  by  exercise  ;  just  as  the  perception  of 
distress  or  misery  is  blunted  by  its  frequent  occurrence, 
while  practical  benevolence  is  increased  by  its  true  prac- 
tice. The  passive  dwelling  or  theorizing  upon  virtue, 
and  even  upon  the  highest  spiritual  truth,  and  writing 
fine  things  about  it,  tend  in  the  same  manner  to  form  a 
habit  of  insensibility  to  moral  considerations,  while  the 
actual  practice  of  virtue  and  faith  strengthens  their 
power.  It  is  needless  to  dwell  upon  the  injurious  effects 
of  this  moral  and  spiritual  insensibility,  which,  if  suffered 
to  go  on,  engenders  insincerity  and  hypocrisy,  and  is  like 
the  night-frost  to  all  tender  and  true  religious  life.  Its 
cure  lies  in  habits  of  practical  piety,  and  of  cheerful, 
vigorous,  personal  activity  outside  of  the  pulpit. 

(//)  A  temptation  to  exalt  the   intellectual  and  literary 
above  the  spiritual  portion  of  his  work. 

A  young  minister  is  inclined  to  do  this,  on  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  better  reputation  he  has  as  a  preacher  and 
thinker  the  more    good  he  can  accomplish. 
But  where  a  minister  feels  that    an    absorb-  Temptation 
ing    love    of    study    is    gaining    upon    him,   *°  exalt  the 

and   that  his  more  practical  pastoral   duties 

^  ^  above  the 

are    growing   distasteful,   he  should  look   to     spiritual, 
his  heart,    and    question    himself.       A    min- 
ister does  not  learn  at  first   to   be  satisfied  with  a  sim- 
ple   sermon  ;  but    he    is   haunted    by   the  demon    of  an 
intellectual    reputation,    or    he    is    interested    in    some 


Il6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

important  train  of  thought,  and  how  can  he  break 
off  to  visit  a  poor  family,  and  h'sten  to  their  querulous 
talk  ?  He  yields  to  the  temptation  and  stays  at  home, 
and  this  leads  to  the  habit  of  staying  at  home  ;  but  he 
will  find,  at  length,  that  by  yielding  to  this  temptation, 
though  his  sermons  may  grow  more  brilliant,  they  will 
have  less  unction  and  power,  and  the  hearts  of  his  people 
will  be  gradually  slipping  from  him,  so  that  he  will  grasp 
a  barren  sceptre,  or  be  obliged  to  resign  it  altogether. 

{i)  The  temptation  to  the  opposite  of  intellectual  toil 
— to  ease  and  self-indulgence, 

A  man  of  ability  may  find  that  the  intellectual  calls  of 

his  profession  can  be  met  by  a  moderate  quantity  of  hard 

work,  and  he  may  imperceptibly  lower    his 

emp  a  ion  g^^^^^^-j  .  j^g  f^jjg  ^q  ^^j-n  his  whole  energies 
to  indolence. 

into  the  current  of  his  work  ;  he  becomes  a 

dabbler  in  literature  ;  he  indulges  in  too  much  periodical 
and  light  reading  ;  he  grows  to  be  a  social  lounger  ;  he 
neglects  his  study,  or  frequents  his  easy-chair  in  it  ;  he 
loses  the  spirit  of  self-denial  and  makes  his  work  too 
easy  ;  and  yet,  intellectually  speaking,  he  may  be  a  bet- 
ter preacher  than  half  his  brethren,  and  thus  he  excuses 
himself.  How  fatal  is  this  temptation  in  a  profession 
which,  from  its  tranquil,  domestic,  and  social  character, 
is  apt  to  lead  to  indolence,  unless  a  manly  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  is  kept  up  ! 

(y)  The  temptation  to  feed  upon  applause. 

A  man  who  always  has  hearers  when  he  speaks,  and 

who  speaks  with  authority  from  his  position,  is  tempted 

to    display    himself  ;  and    if   he    is  not  truly 

Temptation     ^^^^  ^^  Christ  makes  a  man,   he  will  give 

to  scclc 

1  way  to  the  desire  of  winning  human  admira- 

applause.  j  ° 

tion,  and  thus  of   preaching  himself,  and  not 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,     Praise  is  a  healthy  and  needful 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  117 

stimulant  to  generous  natures  ;  but  if  its  love  is 
cherished,  it  is  fatal  to  ministerial  character  and  power  ; 
and  for  this  reason,  perhaps  it  is  best  at  first  to  be  a 
stammerer,  and  to  call  forth  no  praise,  until  the  mind 
gets  strong  enough  and  spiritually  noble  enough  to  bear 
it  ;  for  God  may  sometimes  keep  back  young  ministers 
from  great  outward  success,  since  He  would  not  have  them 
think  of  themselves,  but  of  their  work.  He  knows  that 
man  loves  power  ;  as  an  Arabian  proverb  says,  "  There 
is  a  bud  of  the  love  of  power  in  every  man's  bosom  ;  it 
waits  but  the  fit  opportunity  to  expand  ;"  and  this  op- 
portunity comes  when  a  minister  is  firmly  seated  upon 
his  ministerial  throne,  and  established  there  as  it  were 
by  divine  sanction  ;  he  is  not  contradicted,  at  least  to  his 
knowledge  ;  he  sees  himself  to  be  the  centre  of  interest, 
of  opinion,  of  influence,  to  a  considerable  number  of 
minds,  and  it  is  but  human  to  grasp  these  advantages  and 
to  cultivate  them.  The  love  of  praise  thus  grows  into 
the  love  of  power.  But  ministers  who  nourish  the  love 
of  power  for  its  own  sake  soon  lose  the  love  of  souls,  and 
they  also  lose  the  ability  to  win  souls  ;  for  they  lose  that 
simplicity  of  spirit  which  is  the  prerequisite  to  the  gift  of 
a  higher  wisdom  and  skill  ;  they  cultivate  the  spirit  of 
political  intrigue  and  management  ;  they  grow  suspicious 
as  tyrants  always  do  ;  they  become  dogmatic  in  their 
tone  of  preaching  and  conversation  ;  they  drive  away 
from  them  independent  minds  ;  they  injure  the  cause  of 
truth  by  their  imperiousness  far  more  than  they  build  it 
up  by  their  abilities  ;  they  work  by  power,  not  by  love. 
Such  a  type  of  minister,  although  often  a  man  of  great 
ability,  is  not  to  be  imitated,  though  he  may  command 
a  certain  degree  of  respect  and  admiration. 

(/(')  Peculiar  spiritual  conflicts  in  matters  of  faith. 

A  minister  engaged  in  the  work  of  his  profession  is  no 


liS  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

longer  the  merely  theoretic  and  philosophical  student, 
but  he  is  led  to  vital  studies  into  the  founda- 
piri  ua  con  ^j^^^  ^^  truth  ;  he  comes  in  contact  with  the 
practical  difficulties  of  Christian  faith  in  the 
human  heart  ;  he  is  called  upon  to  give  reasons  which 
must  not  only  meet  the  argumentative  requirement,  but 
which  must  satisfy  the  awakened  and  earnest  moral 
nature  ;  and  he  is  thus  led  to  reconsider  his  whole 
spiritual  experience,  and  painfully  to  travel  over  his  field 
of  personal  faith  step  by  step,  which  he  swept  over  when 
receiving  these  things  as  a  student.  He  has  now  to 
preach  positive  truth  ;  he  cannot  weigh  too  much  or 
too  long  ;  he  must  preach  that  he  knows,  and  testify 
that  he  has  seen.  He  is  to  instruct  others  unto  eter- 
nal life,  and  the  time  has  now  come  for  him,  as  far  as 
possible,  to  settle  these  things  ;  for  men  like  to  be 
led,  yes,  even  ruled,  in  such  things,  by  one  in  whose 
sincerity  and  faith  they  have  confidence  ;  and  there  is  a 
certain  lawful  and  scriptural  rulership  in  these  things  ; 
but  in  this  practical  aspect  of  truth  new  difficulties  spring 
up  which  never  occur  to  the  student  period  of  life.  The 
pastor  is  staggered-  by  the  operation  of  truth  when  ap- 
plied to  living  minds  ;  and  he  finds  men  who  believe 
everything,  and  yet  have  little  or  no  true  Christian  life, 
as  well  as  others  who  believe  little,  and  yet  are  apparently 
true  Christian  men.  Even  Avhile  he  is  called  upon  to 
review  his  own  faith,  and  struggle  through  these  new 
clouds  of  doubt  and  difficulty,  he  must  preach  on  ;  and 
he  cannot  speak  of  his  difficulties  to  those  whom  he  is 
trying  to  lead  in  a  plain  path. 

Another  phase  of  this  spiritual  trial  and  conflict  is  a 
consciousness  often  of  the  want  of  a  lively  faith  on  his 
own  part,  especially  in  public  and  pulpit  exercises.  This 
coldness  and  dulness  seem  to  him  as  bad  as  doubt  ;  his 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  119 

mind  is  filled  with  self-reproaches  ;  and  is  it  not  true 
that  a  preacher  should  not  say  more  than  he  feels  ?  that 
he  should  not  go  beyond  his  convictions?  He  should  be 
true  to  himself,  whatever  happens,  and  he  should  fight 
his  way  through  by  prayer  and  striving  to  a  higher 
spiritual  point  of  view  ;  and  this  is  to  be  said,  that  often 
his  difificulties  will  be  suddenly  cleared  away,  when  he 
actually  engages  in  some  service  of  the  ministry  ;  for 
example,  during  the  invocatory  prayer,  or  in  the  very  first 
words  of  the  sermon,  his  good  heart  comes  to  him  again  ; 
and  an  invisible  Spirit  will  seem  to  help  him,  and  attune  ' 
his  spirit  to  the  service  before  him.  Besides,  we  are  not 
always  responsible  for  our  feelings  ;  but  we  are  for  our 
principles. 

(/)  The  anxious  thought  that  he  is  not  doing  his  whole 
duty  to  souls  committed  to  him. 

This  is  the  greatest  trial  of  a  faithful  minister,  and  he 
cannot  wholly  escape   it.     In  a  work  which  seems  to  re- 
quire an  angel's  energy  and  watchfulness,  his 
human  imperfections  appear  inexcusable  to 
him  ;  and  in  times  of  weariness,  this  sense  of 
responsibility  presses  terribly  upon  bim.      His  only  escape 
is  in  the  thought  that  he  is  not  responsible  for  men's  souls 
further  than  in  the  faithful  manifestation  of  the  truth  to 
them,  and  that  God  will  aid  him  to  bear  a  burden  which 
is  confessedly  too  great  for  a  human  being  to  bear  alone  ; 
he  is  a  co-worker  with  God,  and  he  is  not  to  do  God's 
part  of  the  work. 

But  we  have  dwelt  too  long  upon  the  "  shady  side"  of 
the  picture  ;  there  is  a  bright  side,  and  the  brightness  far 
overpowers  the  darkness.  F.  W.  Robertson,  it  is  true, 
says  that  the  shadows  predominate  ;  but  his  tempera- 
ment was  peculiarly  sensitive — almost  morbidly  so — and  \ 


I20  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

his  faith,  though  noble  and  profound,  seemed  to  be 
wanting  in  the  element  of  hope  ;  he  had  the  principle  of 
self-sacrifice  without  that  of  cheerful,  trustful  self-forget- 
fulness. 

'  The  rewards  of  the  faithful  pastor,  truly  doing  Christ's 
work,  are  no  less  sure  than  his  trials  ;  his  trials  are  inci- 
dental, his  rewards  are  intrinsic  and  inalienable. 

{a)  The  assurance  of    Christ's  constant  presence  with 

him.    If  his  office  is  divinely  instituted,  it  will  be  divinely 

sustained  ;  and  the  promise  of  Christ  to  his 

ministers   is,    "  Lo,    I   am   with    you    alway, 
presence.  "^  ^^  _ 

even  unto  the  end  of  the  Avorld."  Christ 
lives,  and  has  an  absolute  control  over  the  affairs  of  his 
kingdom,  and  a  personal  interest  in  all  who  love  him, 
especially  those  who  are  doing  his  work  ;  he  aids  them, 
he  gives  them  unseen  encouragement,  he  frees  them 
from  their  difficulties.  It  is  an  indescribable  help  to  a 
minister  to  believe  that  if  he  is  doing  Christ's  work, 
Christ  is  present  to  help  him,  and  he  may  say  with  Paul, 
or  Peter,  or  Luther,  "  Our  sufficiency  is  of  God."  He  is 
not  obliged  to  create  new  truth,  but  he  is  simply  to  use 
the  old  divine  truth,  always  powerful,  always  sufficient  : 
"hence,"  in  the  words  of  Robert  Hall,  "  the  ministers 
of  Christ  are  not  dependent  for  success  on  the  force  of 
moral  suasion  ;  they  are  not  merely  the  teachers  of 
an  external  religion,  which  includes  truths  the  most 
momentous,  but  they  are  also  the  instruments  through 
whom  a  supernatural  agency  is  exerted.  In  the  conver- 
sion of  souls,  we  are  not  to  compare  the  difficulties  to  be 
surmounted  with  the  feeble  resources  of  human  power, 
but  with  His  with  whom  nothing  is  impossible."  ^ 


'  "  Discouragements  and  Supports  of  the  Christian  Minister." 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  12 1 

{b)  He  has  a  ministry  of  life,  love,  peace,  good-will  to 
men. 

He  has  a  ministry  of  life,  and  he  should  never  represent 

it  as  a  ministry  of  death   or  condemnation,    for  it   is  a 

living,  not  a  dead  Christ,  that  he  preaches  ; 

death  to  sin,  indeed,  with  the   crucified  Re-       /"'"^^  ^^, 

.of  life  and 
deemer,  but  life  to  righteousness  with    the        j^^^ 

risen  Lord.     Men  are    responsible  for  their 

own  destruction.      "  But  if  our  gospel  be  hid,  it  is  hid  to 

them  that  are  lost  ;  in  whom  the  god  of  this  world  hath 

blinded  the  minds  of  them   which  believe  not,  lest  the 

light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image 

of   God,    should   shine  unto  them."      The   Gospel    has 

nothing  to  do  with  men's  death  ;  it  belongs  to  an  entirely 

different    sphere    of    things,  and    is    wholly   a  remedial 

system  ;  it  is  directed  altogether  to  men's  good,  and  the 

true  minister  of  Christ   can   always  say  to   his  people, 

"  For   we  are  helpers  of  your  joy  ;"  he  is  to  do  good 

and  to  promote  happiness  ;  and  he  is  never  tempted  by 

his  legitimate  work  to  turn  aside  to  any  pursuit  which 

will    cause    evil    or   misery   of  any  kind.       "Therefore, 

seeing    we    have   this    ministry"  (so    good,    benevolent, 

hopeful,  life-producing),  "  as  we  have  received  mercy,  we 

faint  not." 

Let  the  minister  thus  feel  in  his  whole  being  the  enthu- 
siasm of  a  great  cause,  of  a  cause  whose  spirit  is  unselfish 
love,  and  whose  triumph  is  the  good  and  happiness  of 
men. 

(c)   He   dwells   in   communion   with   high,     pure,     and 

divine    things.      He    does    not   plunge    daily 

into  the  defilements  of  worldly  business,  and      oniniu"»on 

with  divine 
breathe   the    corrupt  air   of   the    market    or      thing-s 

the  stock  exchange  ;    but  his  business  is  to 

care  for  the  interests  of  God  ;  and   even  while  he  walks 


122  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

among  men,  and  all  kinds  of  men,  he  does  not  catch  the 
infection  of  worldly  care  in  which  they  live,  but  at  all 
times,  and  on  all  days,  he  dwells  in  the  beautiful  gates  of 
the  Lord's  house,  and  serves  in  His  temple  ;  he  lives  in 
the  highest  thoughts  which  can  employ  a  mind,  and  by 
the  nature  of  his  work  he  is  brought  into  constant  fellow- 
ship with  the  Father  and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ. 

id)  He  can  regard  the  fruits  of  his  labors  as  enduring. 
His  labors  are  beneficial  to  this  world  and  to  this  life  in 
the  building  up  of  a  Christian  civilization  ;  but  his  real 
work  is  to  build  up  a  commonwealth  that  is  to  last  as 
long  as  God  endures.  If  he  has  aided  souls  to  find  peace 
in  Christ,  no  power  can  take  from  him  this  satisfaction  ; 
it  partakes  of  the  divine  blessedness.  And  his  work  is 
not  in  vain,  even  if  apparently  unsuccessful  ;  for  how 
many  in  his  congregation  become  Christians  who  do  not 
think  they  are  such  !  Another  minister  follows  him  in 
the  field  of  his  labors,  and  suddenly  there  is  a  revival  of 
religion,  and  many  souls  are  brought  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  ;  but  this  may  spring  from  his  preparative  agency 
more  than  from  the  new  laborer's  instrumentality  ;  the 
seed  he  has  long  before  sown  comes  up  in  a  night. 

ie)  He  enjoys  the  gratitude  and  affection  of  the  good. 
There  is  nothing  of  any  real  value  to  us 
excepting  the  love  of  God  and  of  the  good. 

good.  r         -o  t> 

The  faithful  pastor  is  the  centre  of  num- 
berless affections,  hopes,  and  prayers  ;  he  is  enshrined 
in  the  hearts  of  his  people.  He  has  joined  the 
parents  in  marriage,  he  has  baptized  the  infant,  he 
has  blessed  the  child,  he  has  instructed  the  youth  ;  he 
has  been  the  centre  of  many  a  family  group  in  the  most 
tender  and  sorrowful  times  ;  he  has  been  with  his  people 
in  storm  and  shine,  and  has  fought  their  spiritual  battles, 
and  shared  in  their  triumphs  ;  and  why  should  he  not  be 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.  123 

dear  to  them  ?  The  true  pastor  never  can  know  how 
much  he  is  honored  and  beloved  ;  he  is  possessor  of 
wealth  to  which  the  world  could  add  nothing. 

(_/")  He  has  the  consciousness  of  employing  his  powers 
in  such  a  way  as  to   bring   in   the  fullest   returns.      His 

mind  can  use  its  best  energies  to  the  best 

,         ^  ,-p,  .  r       •        •         1  •  1     Economy  of 

advantage.      i  here  is  no  profession  in  which 

7       .  .      .  power, 

a  man,  if  his  heart  is  in  it,  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  exerting  every  faculty  to  better  purpose,  for 
more  direct  good,  than  in  the  Christian  ministry.  If, 
for  example,  his  field  is  at  the  growing  West,  on  the 
boundless  prairie,  or  among  the  rugged  gold-veined 
mountains  of  the  central  Territories,  he  can  build  up  the 
Christian  State  while  he  is  building  up  the  Christian 
Church  ;  and  in  all  good  works,  reform  movements, 
education,  science,  the  cause  of  civil  freedom,  every 
civilizing  and  refining  influence,  to  say  nothing  of  higher 
results,  he  can  do  more  for  society  and  the  individual 
man  than  in  any  other  possible  position  ;  for  he  deals 
with  first  principles,  with  the  formative  powers  of  char- 
acter and  society,  with  the  moral  and  renovating  forces 
of  human  life  ;  and  thus  his  profession  is  the  economy  of 
benevolent  power  on  earth. 

{g)  He  may  look  with  hope  to  a  final  blessed' recom- 
pense.    He  has  a  great  reward  already  in  possession  here 
in  his  own  heart  ;  but  the  promises  of  reward 
to  come  are  infinitely  rich  toward  those  who        Final 
work  for  God,  in  Christ-like  labors,  directed  recompense, 
to  the  spiritual  good  and  salvation  of  men. 

In  fine,  although  the  pastor  has  his  trials,  in  order  that 
he  may,  in  some  sense,  resemble  Christ,  and  have 
fellowship  with  him,  in  his  sufferings,  who  was  made 
perfect  through  suffering,  and  was  a  High  Priest  that  can 
be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our  infirmities,  because  he 


124  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

was  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet,  taken  altogether,  the 
life  of  the  ministry  is  generally  a  happy  one.  God  is, 
and  he  is  also  a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek 
him  and  serve  him.  He  will  honor  those  men  who 
honor  him  ;  and  though  they  deserve  naught  at  his 
hands,  and  are  unprofitable  servants,  he  abundantly  rec- 
ompenses the  sincere  labors  of  those  who  do  his  work. 
Ministers  are  happy  and  cheerful  men — none  more  so  ; 
for  they  live  in  an  atmosphere  of  goodness,  noble  pur- 
suits, high  studies,  benevolent  activities,  and  reasonable 
enjoyments.  Nothing  innocent  is  debarred  from  them 
any  more  than  from  other  Christians,  and  they  should  be 
the  promoters  of  the  happiness  as  well  as  the  faith  of 
their  people. 

But,  after  all,  neither  trials  nor  rewards  are  to  be  much 
thought  of  :  happiness  is  not  the  great  thing  ;  the 
minister  of  Christ  should  live  upon  a  higher  plane  of 
motives,  and  should  walk  by  faith  and  not  by  sight.  He 
should  regard  it  as  the  noblest  life  to  be  allowed  to  follow 
Christ  through  good  and  evil  report,  and  to  preach  Him 
to  men.  He  should  be  able  to  say,  "  I  thank  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord,  who  hath  enabled  me  ;  for  that  he 
counted  me  faithful,  putting  me  in  the  ministry."  He 
should  have  a  spirit  not  only  to  discharge  his  duty  faith- 
fully, but  a  spirit  of  freedom  and  praise  ;  he  should  feel 
that  it  is  his  meat  and  drink,  his  life,  his  joy,  to  do  the 
will  of  his  Master,  and  to  finish  the  work  he  has  given 
him  to  do.  The  ministry  of  Christ  is  the  divinest  of 
earthly  services  ;  therefore,  notwithstanding  its  heavy 
burdens  and  trials — and  such  are  inseparable  from  any 
important  work — we  should  behold  no  more  of  the  type 
of  whining,  dissatisfied,  and  despondent  ministers,  but 
(as  far  as  their  work  is  concerned)  cheerful  and  cour- 
ageous servants.     The  spirit  of  the  Christian  ministry  is 


THE  PASTORAL    OFFICE.   ,  125 

one  of  hope.  It  is  an  unspeakable  privilege  to  publish 
the  "  glad  tidings,"  to  labor  in  a  divine  strength  to  make 
men  better,  and  more  godlike.  Thanksgiving,  gratitude, 
and  praise  should  constantly  fill  our  hearts  that  the  Lord 
has  turned  our  feet  into  the  path  of  His  ministry,  and 
our  only  anxiety  should  be  that  we  may  be  in  some 
measure  worthy  to  be  the  ministers  of  God's  infinite  love 
to  sinful  and  needy  men. 


PART  SECOND. 

THE  PASTOR  AS  A  MAN, 


Sec  9.    spiritual  Qualificatiojis. 

In  regard  to  the  general  qualifications  of  a  man  for  the 
ministry  of  the  Word,  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  only  a  real 
personal  experience  which  can  give  a  true  conception  of 
the  magnitude  and  varied  nature  of  this  great  M'Ork.  A 
brief  experience  even  may  open  this  suddenly  and  over- 
poweringly.  A  distinguished  German  preacher  and  com- 
mentator has  naively  remarked  :  "  My  first  fortnightly 
residence  as  a  curate  of  Metzingen  convinced  me  at  once 
what  a  variety  of  qualifications  a  young  clergyman  ought 
to  have  for  such  an  office.  How  totally  different  from 
the  notions  one  had  formed  of  it  at  the  university  !" 

The  pastor,  though  he  is  not  called  upon  to  be  a  better 
man  than  any  other  disciple  of  Christ,  is  naturally  ex- 
pected to  be  in  some  sort  a  representative,  a  typical 
Christian  ;  '  for  to  him  men  come  to  drink  as  to  a  spring. 
When  he  writes  his  sermons  he  has  to  go  down  into  the 
fountains  of  his  heart,  and  there  should  therefore  be  in 
him  an  abounding  spiritual  life  ;  nor  should  he  be  in  the 
apostle's  language  a   "  novice,"  in  things  belonging  to 

'  I  Tim.  4  :  12. 


THE  PASTOR  ASA    MAN. 


127 


God.  It  is  presumed  that  there  can  be  no  question  on 
the  antecedent  point,  that  the  Christian  pastor  should  be 
a  true  disciple.  One  may,  indeed,  be  deceived  respect- 
ing himself  ;  but  he  whose  business  it  is  to  convert  men 
to  Christ  should  himself  be  converted  ;  he  who  is  to 
guide  believers  should  himself  be  a  man  of  genuine  faith 
and  of  spiritual  mind. 

To  do,  indeed,  all  that  a  perfect  pastor  should  do,  he 
should  be  a  perfect  man,  should  be  filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  God.  Where  shall  such  a  man  be  found  ?  There 
was  never  but  one  such  man,  one  such  pastor.  The 
gospel  is  committed  to  imperfect  men  ;  and  yet,  after 
all,  how  dare  we  present  a  low  or  manifestly  defective 
standard  for  the  pastor  of  souls  ?  At  what  point  can  we 
affirm  that  he  has  a  right  to  fail,  or  to  fall  short  of  the 
mark  ? 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  in  a  familiar  passage  from  his  ser- 
mons, says,  "  We  must  first  be  pure,  and  then  purify 
others  ;  be  taught,  then  teach  others  ;  become  light,  and 
then  enlighten  others  ;  draw  near  to  God  ourselves,  and 
then  induce  others  to  approach  Him  ;  sanctify  ourselves, 
and  then  make  others  holy."  The  Christian  pastor 
should  be  able  to  say,  with  the  primitive  ministers  of 
Christ  (t  Cor.  2  :  12,  13),  "  Now,  we  have  received,  not 
the  spirit  of  the  world,  but  the  spirit  which  is  of  God, 
that  we  might  know  the  things  that  are  freely  given  to 
us  of  God,  w^hich  things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words 
which  man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
teacheth,  comparing  spiritual  things  with  spiritual." 

In  respect  of  spiritual  qualifications,  there- 
fore,   we   would   lay   it   down    as   an   axiom,        epasors 
that,   not  only  for  his  own  welfare,  but  for      himself 
power  in  his  ministry,  the  pastor's  first  re- 
ligious duty  is  to  himself  and  his  own  soul.      He  is  to  be 


128  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

careful,  first  of  all  and  with  great  solicitude,  that  the  life 
of  God  is  kept  strong  and  pure  within  him.  i  Tim. 
4:16,"  Take  heed  to  thyself  and  to  thy  doctrine,  for  in 
so  doing  thou  shalt  save  thyself  and  those  that  hear 
thee."  The  example  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  who  was  brought, 
when  at  the  age  of  thirty,  to  a  deeper  experience  of  the 
truth,  if  not  for  the  first  time  brought  into  the  kingdom 
of  God  by  the  renewing  of  his  heart,  some  time  after  he 
had  become  a  settled  minister,  is  a  familiar  and  most 
striking  example  of  the  new  power  that  comes  into  a 
ministry  when  the  pastor  once  receives  the  true  spirit  of 
the  gospel  into  his  own  heart.' 

The  height  of  our  spiritual  preparation  for  the  minis- 
try, as  a  general  rule,  marks  also  the  height  of  our  true 
success  in  the  ministry.  Here  then  should  be  our  first 
thought  and  care,  remembering  Herbert's  words,  V  The 
greatest  and  hardest  preparation  is  within  ;"  it  is  in  the 
true  condition  of  the  heart  toward  God — the  concentra- 
tion of  all  the  powers  on  the  one  object  of  serving  Him 
— "this  one  thing  I  do."  Christ's  preparation  for  the 
ministry  was  mainly  spiritual,  his  whole  previous  life 
being  spent  in  obscurity  and  in  lowly  duties,  yet  in  silent 
communion  with  God,  and  in  the  training  of  the  spirit  to 
do  His  work — in  practising  humility,  patience,  self- 
denial,  and  all  the  lessons  of  deathless  love.  Without 
this  singleness  of  mind,  in  which  there  is  no  crooked  and 
double  way  leading  toward  worldly  praise  and  power, 
now  weak  and  now  strong,  now  serving  self  and  now  serv- 
ing God,  there  can  be  no  real  satisfaction  or  genuine 
power  in  the  ministry. 

A  man's  power  in  any  field  of  religious  work  is  in  pro- 
portion   to    his    inward   appropriation   of    God  by   faith. 


1  Hanna's  "Life  of  Chalmers,"  v.  i.,  pp.  166,  268,  341,  421,  424. 


THE   PASTOR   AS  A    MAN.  129 

"  Faith  is  the  law  upon  whose  actuating  energy  God 
has  made  the  life  which  we  have  in  Him  to  depend  ;  and 
we  can  no  more  detach  what  we  do  in  our  lives  from 
what  we  are  in  our  souls,  than  we  can  separate  heat  or 
light  from  their  essential  principles,  or  expect  to  enjoy 
either  in  the  absence  of  the  conditions  in  which  their 
existence  is  involved."  God,  communicating  himself 
through  his  Spirit,  "  enabled  "  the  first  ministers — that 
is,  endued  them  with  power — to  do  the  works  that  they 
did  for  the  triumph  of  the  gospel.  If  a  man,  then,  cuts 
himself  off  from  the  spring,  he  may  have  all  the  conduits, 
and  the  most  scientific  system  of  irrigation,  but  his  gar- 
den will  not  be  watered,  and  it  will  remain  "  a  dry  and 
thirsty  ground."  "  Not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but 
by  my  spirit,  saith  the  Lord."  The  author  from  whom 
we  quoted  above  says,  "  The  disciples  showed  that  they 
were  aware  of  this  by  that  remarkable  answer,  when 
enjoined  by  their  Master  to  the  practice  of  forgiveness, 
'  Lord,  increase  our  faith  ;  '  we  might  have  expected, 
when  a  moral  duty  difficult  to  the  natural  man  was  in 
question,  the  words  would  have  been,  '  increase  our 
charity  ;  '  but  in  the  conviction  that  obedience  was  only 
practicable  through  a  strength  and  virtue  that  did  not 
reside  in  themselves,  their  prayer  was  for  an  increase  of 
the  faculty  through  which  alone  the  divine  aid  can  be 
made  available  by  the  soul."  The  spiritual  qualifications 
of  a  minister  for  his  work  thus  lie  altogether  in  his  rela- 
tions to  God,  if  they  are  real  and  living  relations. 

If  this  life  of  God  is  in  the  pastor's  soul,  and  if  he  has 
been  truly  called  to  the  ministry  of  Christ,  the  next  thing 
required  of  him  is  to  keep  this  divine  gift  or  calling 
alive — 2  Tim.  i  :  6,  "I  put  thee  in  remembrance,  that 
thou  stir  up  the  gift  of  God  w^hich  is  in  thee  ;"  for  this 
is  a  spiritual  gift,  the  peculiar  minsterial  gift  of  the  love 


130  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

of  Christ's  work  in  the  conversion  of  men.  This  first 
love,  this  youthful  zeal,  this  flame  which  fell  from 
heaven,  consecrating  him  to  the  work  of  saving  men's 
souls,  may  abate.  When  he  meets  with  serious  antag- 
onisms, he  may  be  discouraged  ;  when  he  is  assailed  by 
the  temptations  of  a  worldly  spirit,  he  may  give  way,  and 
grow  cold  ;  he  may  think  himself  beyond  danger,  and, 
being  busy  with  the  spiritual  affairs  of  others,  he  may  for- 
get to  look  within  his  own  spirit  and  to  watch  over  his 
own  heart.  As  a  public  man,  also,  he  may  suppose  that 
he  has  no  time  for  himself,  and  that  it  is  true  self-sacri- 
fice not  to  think  of  himself.  He  has  also  unusual 
spiritual  burdens  to  bear,  and  the  higher  we  go  up  a 
mountain  the  heavier  our  burden  grows  and  the  more 
difficult  is  every  effort  to  sustain  it.  The  minister  moves 
in  a  rarer  atmosphere  than  other  men  move  in  ;  while 
nothing  unnatural  or  artificial  ought  to  be  demanded,  a 
certain  tension  of  soul  is  required  of  him  ;  he  is  not  per- 
mitted, perhaps  not  fairly  permitted,  to  descend  the 
mountain  and  breathe  the  easier  air  of  lower  thoughts 
and  pursuits,  but  he  dwells  on  the  heights  ;  from  the  pul- 
pit he  goes  to  the  lecture-room,  from  the  lecture-room 
to  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  from  the  sick-bed  to  the 
prayer-meeting,  from  that  to  his  studies,  and  from  his 
studies  to  his  pulpit  again  ;  his  yearly,  weekly,  hourly 
thought  is,  mainly,  on  high  spiritual  themes.  That  is  in 
one  sense  a  great  privilege,  and  in  another  a  great  trial  ; 
for  it  is  a  state  of  mind  which  requires  constant  watching 
and  renewal,  lest  there  be  an  over-tension,  lest  the  spirit 
grow  dull,  the  fire  go  out,  and  the  gift  of  God  become 
dead  within  him. 

The  simple  methods  that  we  would  suggest  by  which  a 
minister  should  strive  to  maintain  his  spirituality  of 
mind,  and  his  spiritual  gift  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  are 


THE   PASTOR   AS  A    MAN;  131 

threefold — viz.,  by  meditation,    reading  the    Scriptures, 

and  prayer. 

I.   Meditation.     Jeremy  Taylor,  speaking  of  religious 

meditation,  says,    "If  in  the  definition  of  meditation  I 

should  call  it  an  unaccustomed  and  unprac-  ,.   ,. 

Meditation. 

tised  duty,  I  should  speak  a  truth,  though 
somewhat  inartificially,  for  not  only  the  interior  beauties 
and  bricrhter  excellences  areas  unfelt  as  ideas  and  abstrac- 
tions  are,  but  also  the  practice  and  common  knowledge 
of  the  duty  itself  are  strangers  to  us,  like  the  retirements 
of  the  deep  or  the  undiscovered  treasures  of  the  Indian 
hills.  And  this  is  a  very  great  cause  of  the  dryness  and 
expiration  of  men's  devotion,  because  our  souls  are  so 
little  refreshed  with  the  waters  and  holy  dews  of  medita- 
tion. We  go  to  our  prayers  by  chance,  or  order,  or  by 
determination  of  accidental  occurrences,  and  we  recite 
them  as  we  read  a  book,  and  sometimes  we  are  sensible 
of  the  duty,  and  a  flash  of  lightning  makes  the  room 
bright,  and  our  prayers  end,  and  the  lightning  is  gone, 
and  we  are  as  dark  as  ever.  We  draw  our  water  from 
standing  pools,  which  never  are  filled  but  with  sudden 
showers,  and  therefore  we  are  dry  so  often  ;  whereas,  if 
we  would  draw  water  from  the  fountains  of  our  Saviour, 
and  derive  them  through  the  channel  of  diligent  and 
prudent  meditations,  our  devotions  would  be  a  continual 
current,  and  safe  against  the  barrenness  of  frequent 
droughts.  For  meditation  is  an  attention  and  applica- 
tion of  the  spirit  to  divine  things  ;  a  searching  out  of  all 
instruments  to  a  holy  life,  a  devout  consideration  of 
them,  and  a  production  of  those  affections  which  are  in 
a  direct  order  to  the  love  of  God  and  a  pious  conversa- 
tion. Indeed,  meditation  is  all  that  great  instrument  of 
piety  whereby  it  is  made  prudent,  and  reasonable,  and 
orderly,  and  perpetual.     For,  supposing  our  memory  in- 


132  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

structed  with  the  knowledge  of  such  mysteries  and  rev- 
elations as  are  apt  to  entertain  the  spirit,  the  under- 
standing is  first  and  best  employed  in  the  consideration 
of  them,  and  then  the  will  in  their  reception,  when  they 
are  duly  prepared,  and  so  transmitted  ;  and  both  these 
in  such  manner  and  to  such  purposes  that  they  become 
the  magazine  and  repositories  of  grace,  and  instrumental 
to  all  designs  of  virtue."  ' 

Meditation  is  fixing  or  establishing  in  our  minds  those 
divine  truths  and  principles  which  have  a  direct  influence  . 
in  forming  a  holy  life.  By  thinking,  for  example,  on  the 
humility  of  Jesus,  by  making  it  the  subject  of  deep 
meditation,  by  fixing  this  truth  always  in  the  mind,  this 
must  have  an  effect  to  produce  the  same  humility  in  us. 
The  contemplation  of  such  passages  as  these  :  Matt. 
II  :  29,  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me  ;  for 
I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart  ;  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  souls,"  or  Luke  22  :  26,  27,  "  but  he  that  is 
greatest  among  you,  let  him  be  as  the  younger  ;  and  he 
that  is  chief,  as  he  that  doth  serve.  P'or  whether  is 
greater,  he  that  sitteth  at  meat,  or  he  that  serveth  ?  Is 
not  he  that  sitteth  at  meat  ?  but  I  am  among  you  as  he 
that  serveth  ;"  or  Matt.  20  :  28,  "  Even  as  the  Son  of 
man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  and 
to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many  ;"  or  John  13  :  12,  15  ; 
"After  he  had  washed  their  feet.  ...  I  have  given 
you  an  example  that  ye  should  do  as  I  have  done  to 
you  ;"  or  Rev.  3  :  20,  "  Behold  I  stand  at  the  door  and 
knock" — a  contemplation  of  such  passages,  earnestly  and 
steadfastly  pursued,  must  be  like  gazing  into  that  by 
which  one  is  gradually  changed  into  the  same  image  of 
humility.     And,   in    like    manner,     dwelling    upon    the 


'  "Jeremy  Taylor's  Works,"  Bohn's  ed.,  v.  i.,  p.  66. 


THE  PASTOR  ASA    MAN.  133 

Saviour's  unworldliness,  John  15  :  19  ;  17  :  14,  "  Ye  are 
not  of  the  world  .  .  .  even  as  I  am  not  of  the  world" — 
this  tends  to  wean  the  heart  from  worldliness.  Medita- 
tion upon  the  practical  example  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and 
his  every-day  walk  and  conversation  is  especially  profit- 
able. Let  a  man  ask  himself  how  Jesus  Christ  would 
have  acted  in  the  every-day  choices  and  circumstances  of 
his  own  life,  and  he  has  here  a  simple  rule  of  conduct 
than  which  nothing  can  be  higher  or  better  to  lead  him 
to  that  perfection  of  character  for  which  the  philosopher 
as  well  as  the  Christian  professes  to  strive.  Meditation, 
to  be  profitable,  must  not  always  dwell  upon  the  highest 
mysteries  of  religion,  but  chiefly  upon  the  plainest 
truths  and  duties.  Jeremy  Taylor  says,  "  High  specula- 
tions are  as  barren  as  the  tops  of  cedars  ;  but  the  funda- 
mentals of  Christianity  are  fruitful  as  the  valleys  or  the 
creeping  vine."  The  understanding  and  imagination  are 
to  be  held  in  restraint  in  meditation — not  suffered  to 
wander  from  one  thing  to  another,  and  to  indulge  in 
dreamy  musings,  or  even  in  visions  of  heavenly  things 
that  have  no  practical  bearing  on  a  good  life  ;  but  though 
religious  meditation  may  sometimes  rise  to  holy  .contem- 
plation of  heavenly  mysteries,  yet  it  is  for  the  purpose  of 
aiding  piety,  and  the  daily  Christian  life,  and  therefore 
the  fruits  of  meditation,  or  the  results  and  decisions  of 
meditation,  should  be  carried  into  practice,  else  they  are 
unprofitable. 

Monasticism — and  we  still  honor  the  holy  lives  of  some 
of  the  old  monks,  from  whom  the  Christian  world  has 
received  richer  legacies  of  spiritual  thought  than  the 
whole  wealth  which  the  Imperial  Catholic  Church  has 
represented— was  the  distortion  of  this  duty  ;  for  while 
it  recognized  the  true  need  of  intervals  of  seclusion  from 
earthly  objects  and   of  communion  with   one's  self  and 


134  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

with  God,  since,  with  a  physical  and  sensitive  nature,  to 
which  the  outward  world  appeals,  one  must  withdraw 
into  comparative  solitude  in  order  to  be  thus  entirely 
with  one's  self,  yet  the  monkish  conception  failed  to 
unite  the  idea  of  occasional  solitude  with  the  noble  Chris- 
tian truth  of  a  common  human  life  in  this  world  :  it  was 
not  practical  ;  it  made  solitude  an  end  and  not  a  means  ; 
it  was  a  partial  and  untrue  system  of  education  in  holy 
living.  Christ  gave  us  an  example,  when,  from  the 
scenes  of  a  life  filled  with  good  activity,  he  went  to 
meditate  alone  on  the  mountain  or  in  the  desert  ;  and 
how  much  more  do  his  imperfect  servants,  especially 
his  ministers,  whose  little  spiritual  life  soon  runs  out, 
need  to  have  it  replenished  from  silent  communion  with 
the  unseen  springs  of  life  ! 

"  By  all  means  use  sometimes  to  be  alone, 
Salute  thyself  ;  see  what  thy  soul  doth  love." 

— to  change  good  George  Herbert's  words  a  little. 

To  be  always  in  society,  and  in  the  full  sight  and  hear- 
ing of  the  world,  as  some  ministers  seem  to  be,  makes 
the  mind  superficial,  and  such  a  man  cannot  have  pro- 
found thoughts. 

To  be  alone  with  God,  and  to  lie,  as  it  were,  in  the 
very  shadow  of  His  holy  and  ineffable  presence,  as  of  a 
great  mountain,  brings  a  salutary  awe  ;  the  soul's  vanity, 
pride,  selfishness,  dwindle,  and  the  nature  is  deepened, 
purified,  and  strengthened. 

Thoughts  on  spiritual  truth  with  which  one  feeds  the 
minds  and  faith  of  hundreds  cannot  be  well  conceived  in 
a  crowd,  but  in  that  contemplative  solitude,  into  which 
the  soul,  as  did  Christ  in  his  solitude,  carries  the  warm 
sympathies  and  the  real  wants  of  men.  A  man  who  is 
always  talking  and  always  before  the  public  must  inevi- 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.       _  135 

tably  say  a  great  many  more  things  than  he  feels,  or  be- 
lieves, or  really  thinks  for  himself.  A  minister  accom- 
plishes more  who  mingles  thought  with  action  and  blends 
meditation  with  toil.  As  his  convictions  are  deepened, 
as  his  purpose  is  more  centralized,  when  he  throws  him- 
self into  actual  duties  and  labors,  he  has  an  aim,  a  tenac- 
ity, a  force,  which  bear  him  beyond  the  possible  reach  of 
other  less  intense  and  less  concentrated  minds. 

The  time  of  seminary  preparation  for  the  work  of  the 
ministry  is  in  some,  though  not  all,  respects  such  a 
period  of  meditative  retirement  ;  and  such  a  period  of 
silent  study  and  preparation  is  not  lost  time.  Christ 
waited  thirty  years  in  seclusion  before  he  began  to 
preach  the  gospel.  The  seasons  also  of  vacation,  to  a 
settled  pastor,  may  be,  to  some  extent,  spent  in  this 
way,  not  only  for  the  renovation  of  the  bodily,  but  of 
the  spiritual  powers.  Let  him  go  into  the  country,  or 
the  woods,  or  the  wilderness,  and  be  alone  with  nature  and 
with  God.  He  will  come  up,  like  John  the  Baptist  out  of 
the  wilderness,  to  move  the  city.  But  a  minister  should 
have  frequent  periods  of  complete  retirement  ;  and  he 
should  be  willing  to  let  the  literary  and  scientific  part  of 
his  profession  suffer  rather  than  to  lose  that  power  which 
comes  from  a  strong  and  healthy  state  of  the  religious 
affections  ;  for,  at  the  present  day,  when  there  is  so  much 
of  energetic  working  for  Christ,  the  fear  is,  that  the  type 
of  piety  may  sometimes  have  more  activity  than  depth. 

Meditation,  we  have  seen,  is  not  prayer,  nor  devotion, 
strictly  so  called,  although  it  is  a  highly  devotional  exer- 
cise. Vinet  says  its  etymology  explains  its  practice,  i.e. 
"  it  is  getting  into  the  middle  of  things  ;"  it  is  searching, 
not  in  a  speculative,  but  practical  spirit,  for  the  great 
principles  of  divine  truth  which  have  unchangeable  rela- 
tions to  the  soul  ;  and  it  is  also  the  patient  exploring  of 


136  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

our  own  hearts  to  find  out  their  spiritual  wants.  It  is 
striving  to  discover,  with  God's  help,  what  are  the 
sources  of  our  weakness  and  ill-success  ;  and,  in  the 
humble  tranquillity  of  the  mind  to  meet  God,  to  question 
Him,  to  gain  from  Him  new  thoughts  of  truth,  and  new 
desires  of  love  and  obedience. 

Religious  meditation  thus  chiefly  concerns  itself  with 
two  classes  of  themes — divine  truth  and  personal  ex- 
perience. 

"  Our  meditation  of  God,"  Fenelon  says,  "  should  be 
guided  by  love  ;"  and  he  uses  the  illustration  of  the 
thinking  of  a  child  about  an  absent  parent,  the  child 
being  led  thereto  by  his  pure  love  of  the  dear  object.  We 
should  meditate  upon  Christ  as  the  manifestation  of  God 
to  our  souls,  as  him  by  whom  we  know  God  :  "  If  ye  then 
be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  those  things  that  are  above 
where  Christ  sitteth  at  the  right  hand  of  God,"  "  For 
our  conversation  is  in  heaven,  from  whence  also  we  look 
for  the  Saviour,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

Our  meditation  should  also  be  guided  by  knowledge. 
One  may  stimulate  his  reflections  upon  divine  truth  by 
reading  quickening  books,  especially  the  lives  of  Chris- 
tians of  marked  power  and  faith,  such  as  Stanley's  "  Life 
of  Arnold,"  the  "  Life  and  Letters  of  F.  W.  Robertson," 
Bushnell's  "  Sermons  on  the  New  Life,"  the  "  Life 
of  Frederick  Perthes,"  Augustine's  "Confessions," 
Neander's  "  Life  of  Chrysostom,"  and  such  works  also  as 
Thomas  a  Kempis's  "  Imitation  of  Christ,"  the  "  Theolo- 
gia  Germanica,"  Jeremy  Taylor's  "  Life  of  Jesus  Christ," 
his  "  Holy  Living  and  Dying,"  William  Law's  "  Call  to 
a  Holy  Life,"  Leighton's  Works,  Professor  Upham's 
"Interior  Life,"  and  his  other  writings — books  which, 
though  they  have  a  vein  of  mysticism  in  them,  have  sub- 
stance of  thought,  and  are  truly  spiritual  books  that  look 


THE  PASTOR   ASA    MAN.  137 

deep  into  the  soul  and  its  relations  with  God  and  an  in- 
visible kingdom  of  eternal  life,  righteousness,  and  love, 
where  dwell  everlasting  peace  and  joy. 

Meditation  upon  personal  experience,  or  self-examina- 
tion, is  thought  less  of  at  present  than  formerly,  and  it 
has  been  said  that  Christ  did  not  teach  it.      It  has  un- 
doubtedly been  carried  to  a  false  extreme,  so  that  it  be- 
came  an  unnatural   and  injurious    self-inquisition  ;   and 
now  there  is  come  the  reaction.      But  this  duty,  when  sim- 
ply and  rightly  viewed,  is  one  taught  both  by  conscience 
and  Scripture.     Self-examination  is  not  indeed  required 
for  our  pardon  and  acceptance  with  God,  but  rather  to 
show    us  our  characters   and  wants,    and  to   give    us   a 
knowledge  of  ourselves  as  a  means  of  spiritual  awaken- 
ing, improvement,  and  growth.     When  we  make  it  any- 
thing  else    or    more    than    this,    it    becomes  a    burden 
and  a  snare.     It  is  a  means  to  an    end — nothing  more. 
The    method    of    self  -  examination    proposed    in     the 
"  Manresa"    of    Ignatius  Loyola    is,   to  say  the    least,  a 
perilous    one.        Its  essential    proposition    proves    this  : 
"  Spiritual  exercises,  chosen  with  a  view   to  lead  man  to 
conquer  himself,  to  disengage  himself  from  the  fatal  in- 
fluence of  evil  affections,   and,   with    his  heart    thus  set 
free,  to  trace  out  for  himself  the  plan  of  a  truly  Christian 
life."     Though  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  the  inexorable 
purpose  which,  grinding    inwardly,    crushes    out    human 
will  and  makes  the  living  man  "  usque  cadaver,''  yet  the 
true  system   of  apostolic  self-examination  leads,   on  the 
contrary,  away  from  self  to  the  living  springs  of  holiness 
in  Christ,  to  childlike  repose  in  the  love  and  strength  and 
fatherhood  of    God.      It  does  not  look  so  much  within, 
where  are  the  turbid  fountains  of  darkness,  selfishness,  and 
sin,  as  away  unto  God  who  "  is  light,   and   in   Him  is  no 
darkness  at  all."   But  a  Christian  pastor  should  surely  at 


138  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

times  thoughtfully  ask  himself,  Is  the  plan  of  my  life  a 
true  one  ?  Am  I  following  it  with  true  motives  ?  Do  I 
see  in  myself  the  beginnings  of  selfishness,  or  of  a  worldly 
spirit,  or  of  ministerial  jealousy,  ambition,  and  cupidity  ? 
Am  I  goverited  by  a  desire  to  do  good  to  men,  and  to 
build  up  the  pure  cause  of  righteousness,  or  by  some 
lower  desire  ?  And  what  am  I  preaching  ?  the  truth  of 
the  Son  of  God,  the  truth  of  the  cross,  the  divine  love 
and  reason,  or  my  own  philosophy  ? 

Then  there  are  frequently  cases  in  a  parish  of  a  difficult 
nature,  of  peculiar  religious  experience,  or  of  obstinate 
resistance  to  the  light,  which  require  special  thought ; 
and  there  is  always  the  great  question  to  be  revolved, 
How  is  Christian  truth,  how  is  the  love  of  God,  to  be 
brought  home  to  the  hearts  of  young  and  old,  rich  and 
poor,  educated  and  ignorant  ?  Such  questions  lead  a 
man  deep  into  himself  and  into  God. 

They  must  be  settled  away  from  the  noise  of  men  and 
the  world. 

2.   Reading     the    Scriptures.        A     modern     religious 

writer  says,  "  In  my  judgment,  all  other  education  put 

together  is  not  an  equivalent  for  a  thorough 

^"&     ^     and  sympathetic  personal  knowledge  of  the 
Scriptures.  , 

Bible."     If  a  minister  always    comes  to  the 

Bible  in  an  intellectual  and  critical  spirit,  for  the  purpose 
of  procuring  themes  for  sermons,  or  of  propping  up  his 
theological  theories,  he  will  deprive  his  spiritual  nature 
of  its  proper  nourishment.  It  is  a  delightful  thing  to 
meet  a  minister  who  has  both  an  intellectual  and  a 
spiritual  apprehension  of  the  Scriptures,  who  feeds  upon 
the  hidden  manna  of  the  Word  and  is  taught  by  a  wis- 
dom hiq-her  than  that  of  the  schools.' 


'  See  Stanley's  "  Life  of  Dr.  Arnold,"  v.  i.,  p.  195,  Scribner's  ed. 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  139 

It  is  well  to  select,  on  some  plan,  as  the  lesson  for  the 
day,  a  definite  chapter,  half  chapter,  or  sometimes  single 
passage  or  sentence,  although  more  than  this  may  be 
read,  if  we  seek  for  actual  progress  in  the  uiiderstanding 
of  the  Word  of  God  ;  but  we  are  often  so  feeble  in  our 
spiritual  life  that  if  we-  can  but  maintain  our  life  it  is  a 
great  thing.  In  reading  the  Bible  for  spiritual  and 
devotional  ends,  the  mind  should  not  be  allowed  to  run 
into  a  speculative  current — the  search  after  strange 
things  ;  but  the  endeavor  should  be  simply  to  know  how 
God  speaks  to  our  souls  in  his  Word.  Our  studies  and 
meditations  should  be  as  simple  as  possible — just  the 
wellings  up  into  our  hearts  of  the  spring  of  divine  truth, 
which  we  open  ;  it  is  letting  God  speak  to  and  in  us  by 
his  Word,  and  listening  to  his  voice  in  silence.  In  all 
our  reading  of  the  Bible,  we  should  seek  to  find  Him 
who  is  revealed  therein — God  as  Redeemer  ;  and  if  we 
do  not  read  much,  let  it  be  with  great  earnestness  of 
desire  to  know  more  of  God's  manifestation  of  Himself 
in  Christ,  in  whom  dwelt  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily — to  get  a  daily  glimpse  of  the  face  of  Jesus. 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  identical  with  the  whole 
Bible — it  is  his  testimony  and  his  testament.  This  is  a 
vital  and  transforming  thought  to  come  into  a  man's 
soul  that  what  the  Bible  is  and  says,  is  what  Christ,  who 
is  the  Angel  of  the  Old  Covenant  and  the  Spirit  of  the 
New,  is  and  says.  "  Of  whom  the  whole  family  in 
heaven  and  earth  is  named.  That  he  would  grant  you, 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  to  be  strengthened 
with  might  by  his  Spirit  in  the  inner  man  ;  that  Christ 
may  dwell  in  your  hearts  by  faith  ;  that  ye,  being  rooted 
and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  able  to  comprehend  with 
all  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length  and  depth  and 
height  ;  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ,  which  passeth 


I40  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

knowledge,  that  ye  might  be  filled  with  all  the  fulness  of 
God." 

We  wish  to  impress  the  truth  that  a  minister  has  such 
a  constant  drain  upon  his  spiritual  strength  and  resources 
that  he  must  have  constant  renewal  from  divine  sources 
to  enable  him  to  sustain  this  demand.  To  use  a  homely 
figure,  a  laboring  man  needs  more  food  than  other  men  ; 
so  a  man  who  labors  in  the  Word  requires  more  spiritual 
nourishment,  more  inward  strength,  replenishing  and 
power,  than  others. 

3.  Prayer.  In  speaking  of  prayer  at  this  time,  we  re- 
fer to   secret  prayer — to   the   drawing   nigh   to   God    for 

one's   own    spiritual   guidance,    health,    and 
Prayer.  .  ^  .  ' 

salvation.     Prayer  is  the   actual  contact  of 

the  soul  with  God,  with  that  divine  personality  who  is 
the  source  of  its  life,  from  contact  with  whom  springs 
new  strength.  Much  has  been  written  on  prayer,  but  no 
one  has  ever  solved  its  dynamics,  for  it  belongs  to  the  un- 
revealed  mysteries  of  our  relations  with  God  ;  but,  how- 
ever mysterious,  prayer  is  a  real  application  of  the  soul 
to  God  for  aid,  with  the  perfect  confidence  of  a  child, 
laying  open  the  most  secret  thoughts,  the  inmost  wants, 
to  the  heavenly  Father.  Such  prayer  is  necessary  to 
make  an  earnest  ministry.  Soul-strength  comes  from 
union  with  God,  from  a  conscious  concurrence  and  co- 
operation of  the  soul  with  the  true  forces  of  spiritual 
life,  the  touching  of  God's  sceptre  by  prayer,  even  as 
Moses  prayed  for  the  people  and  prevailed  with  the 
Most  High.  Prayer  becomes  a  necessary  preparation 
and  condition  of  ministerial  power  and  success  ;  and  the 
minister  who,  in  addition  to  his  own  great  wants  and 
sins,  has  the  burden  of  souls  resting  upon  him,  needs  a 
double  portion  of  the  spirit  of  prayer.  He  should  be  a 
prayerful  man — 


THE   PASTOR   AS  A    MAX.  141 

{a)  That  he  may  be  kept  in  the  spirit  of  his  work.  If 
it  was  said  of  Michael  Angelo, 

"  Who  never  moved  his  hand 
Till  he  had  steep'd  his  inmost  soul  in  prayer," 

much  more  should  it  be  said  of  him  who  does  not  indeed 

carve  a  dead    statue,   but  whose  work  it  is, 

by  the  help  of  God,  to  ' '  create  a  soul  under  "^^  ^^  ^^P^  ^" 
1  -1  r     1        1     ..      /-x        T        1        .1  1  •      the  spirit  of 

the   ribs  01  death.        Our  Lord  said  to  his     ,  -  , 

his  •work. 

disciples,  "  Howbeit  this  kind  goeth  not  out 
but  by  prayer  and  fasting,"  which  might  mean  power 
to  work  in  co-operation  with  God,  and  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  in  his  ministry — power  to  convert  men,  which,  in 
some  sense,  is  a  miraculous  work.  The  apostles  evi- 
dently remembered  these  words  of  the  Lord,  when  they 
afterward  told  the  Church  to  choose  men  for  the  secular 
business  of  the  Church,  "  but  we  will  give  ourselves  to 
prayer  and  to  the  ministry  of  the  Word." 

While  the  disciples  were  praying  together  the  Holy 
Spirit  came  upon  them  and  consecrated  them  to  their 
work  ;  and  in  this  way  they  received  a  special  preparation 
for  it.  As  the  ministry  is  a  work  of  faith,  so  the  life  of 
faith  is  prayer.  St.  Bernard  is  quoted  as  saying,  "  Utilis 
lectio,  lit  His  cruditio,  scd  inagis  ncccssaria  unctio,  qnippc  qucv 
docct  ab  omnibus.'"  This  heavenly  unction,  this  anointing 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  the  Enlightener,  this  spirit  of  life, 
light,  and  power,  which  enters  into  all  things,  and  uses 
all  for  edification,  comes  through  prayer  ;  and  we  may 
say  that  prayer  prepares  for  study,  work,  preaching — 
every  duty.  It  wins  for  us  the  harmonious  co-operation 
of  the  Spirit,  it  keeps  our  minds  in  a  clear,  healthy, 
courageous,  hopeful,  loving,  believing  tone.  Prayer 
gives  the  right  direction  to  our  life  and  motives  in  the 
service  of  God  in  the  ministry.     It  keeps  that  service 


142  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pure.     Deut.  22  19,  "  Thou  shalt  not  sow  thy  vineyard 

with  divers  seed  :  lest  the  fruit  of  thy  seed  (fulness  of  thy 

seed)  which  thou  hast  sown,  and  the  fruit  of  thy  vineyard 

be  defiled. "     Thus  the  minister  should  exercise  care  not 

to  mingle    earthly  and    low  motives  (divers    seed)    with 

those  pure  principles  which    should   control  him  in   his 

work,  and  which  should  come  from  and  be  developed  in 

the  spirit  of  Christ  ;  and  this  can  only  be  secured  through 

prayer  and  great  watchfulness.      Vinet  finely  remarks  on 

this  point  ("  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  115),  "  Prayer  is  necessary 

to  keep  us  at  the  proper  point  of  vision,  which  is  always 

escaping  from  us,  to  heal  the  wounds  of  self-love  and  of 

feeling,  to   renew   our   courage,  to  anticipate   the   always 

threatened   invasion   of  indolence,  of  levity,    of  dilatori- 

ness,   and    spiritual   and   ecclesiastical    pride,    of    pulpit 

vanity,  of   professional   jealousy.      Prayer   resembles   the 

air  of  certain  isles  of  the  ocean,  the  purity  of  which  will 

allow   no     life   to   vermin.     With    this    atmosphere    we 

should  compass  ourselves   about,  as  the   diver  surrounds 

himself  with  the  bell  before  he  descends  into  the  sea." 

{b)  That   he   may  be  a   true   interpreter   of   the   Word. 

Thomas  a.  Kempis  in  the  "  De  Imitatione"  imagines  the 

Lord    to  say  :   "  I    am   He  who   exalts    the 

humble  and   simple  mind,  and  suddenly  im- 
interpreter.  ^  ^  _  ■' 

parts  to  it  such  a  perception  of  eternal  truth 
as  it  could  not  acquire  by  a  life  of  study.  I  teach  not, 
like  men,  with  the  clamor  of  uncertain  words  ;  with  vain 
learning,  or  the  ostentation  of  learning  yet  more  vain  ;  or 
with  the  strife  of  formal  disputation,  in  which  victory  is 
more  striven  for  than  truth  ;  I  teach,  in  still  and  soft 
whispers  to  relinquish  earth  and  seek  after  heaven  ;  to 
loathe  carnal  and  temporal  enjoyments,  and  sigh  for 
spiritual  and  eternal  ;  to  shun  honor  and  bear  contempt  ; 
to  place  all  hope  and  dependence  upon  me,  and  above  all 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A   MAN:  143 

in  heaven  and  on  earth  ardently  to  love  mc.  By- 
supreme  love  of  me  some  have  been  filled  with  divine 
knowledge  and  spoken  truths  beyond  the  comprehension 
of  man  ;  and  thus,  by  forsaking  themselves,  they  have 
found  that  light,  to  which  the  subtlest  disquisitions  of 
their  own  minds  could  not  have  led  them."  He  but 
echoes  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  He  that  doeth  the  will 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God,"  "  He 
that  loveth  is  born  of  God  and  knoweth  God."  The 
way  to  divine  knowledge  and  the  interpretation  of  the 
Word  is  through  the  love  of  God  as  influential  in  dis- 
pelling the  mists  of  passion,  and  clarifying  the  rational 
powers  and  imparting  to  them  spiritual  insight.  Dr. 
Owen  said,  "  For  a  man  solemnly  to  undertake  the  in- 
terpretation of  Scripture  without  invocation  of  God  to  be 
taught  and  instructed  by  His  Spirit,  is  a  provocation  of 
Him  ;  nor  shall  I  expect  the  discovery  of  truth  from  any 
one  who  thus  proudly  engages  in  a  work  so  much  above 
his  ability.  Without  this  one  cannot  be  satisfied  that  he 
hath  attained  the  mind  of  the  Spirit  in  any  divine  revela- 
tion." 

Scholarly  ministers  are  sometimes  tempted  to  neglect 
this  higher  aid  ;  but  spiritual  truth  will  not  let  itself  be 
won  by  purely  intellectual  methods,  and  one,  as  of  old, 
must  still  be  taught  directly  by  Christ,  who  reveals  more 
to  the  prayerful  spirit  than  he  does  to  the  keenest 
scholarship  ;  and  this  is  not  disparaging  scholarship.  As 
an  illustration  of  that  remark,  Leighton's  commentaries 
on  the  Epistles  of  Peter  are  fruits  of  such  a  prayerful  in- 
terpretation of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  though  their  learning 
may  be  far  exceeded,  yet  their  teaching  quality,  the  light 
beyond  reason,  the  unction  and  heavenly  wisdom  in 
them,  probably  never  will  be  excelled, 

{c)  That  he  may  be  an  intercessor  for  the  souls  of  his 


144  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

people.     The  intercessory    prayer,   as     has    been    said, 

seems  to  belong  peculiarly  to  the  pastor,  for 

.  ^  he   must   pray  for  those  for  whom  he    is   in 

intercessor.  ^     ■' 

some  true  sense  responsible.  Paul  said  of  his 
flock,  "  I  make  mention  of  you  always  in  my  prayers  ;" 
and  if  a  minister  has  a  right  idea  of  his  work,  he  will  not 
neglect  the  instrumentality  of  prayer — prayer  for  the 
Holy  Spirit,  who  alone  makes  the  truth  effectual.  It 
should  be  remembered  that  prayer  is  really  effective  ; 
that  it  is  a  spiritual  force  ;  that  it  gains  the  object  for 
which  the  prayer  is  made.  Christ  heard  the  blind  Bartim- 
eus  and  healed  him  ;  he  heard  the  petitions  of  the  cen- 
turion and  of  Jairus  ;  he  answered  the  urgent  request  of 
the  Syrophenician  woman.  Though  not  every  specific 
thing  asked  for  is  granted,  like  the  prayer  of  Paul  con- 
cerning the  thorn  in  the  flesh,  yet  the  prayer  is  heard  and 
it  is  answered.  Our  Lord's  own  agonizing  prayer  in  the 
garden  was  heard  and  answered,  though  not  in  the  form 
that  the  human  nature  of  Christ  desired  ;  and  the  words 
of  the  Saviour,  "  nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou 
wilt,"  express  the  very  spirit  of  Christian  prayer,  that  it 
should  be  filial,  humble,  submissive  to  God,  not  dictating 
to  God,  but  in  harmony  with  his  will.  The  pra3^er  of 
faith  produces  true  results.  It  turns  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart  and  revolutionizes  human  nature.  It  reaches  the 
springs  of  motive,  desire,  and  action.  It  penetrates 
where  no  other  influence  can  possibly  reach.  It  removes 
the  mountains.  It  brings  about  the  actual  conversion  of 
men  from  sin  to  holiness. 

(^)  That  he  may  accomplish  great  things  in 
o  accom-    ^^^^  ministry.     The  ministry  is  itself  the  great- 
thines        ^^^  ^^  works  when  it  simply  accomplishes  its  _ 
own  ends  ;  but  it  may  in  this  day,  by  the  help 
of  God,  have  something  of  the  ancient  apostolic  power. 


THE   PASTOR  AS  A   MAN.  145 

At  the  crrave  of  a  remarkable  believer  of  the  old   Ger- 

o 

man  land,  it  was  said,  "  He  prayed  up  the  walls  of  hos- 
pitals ;  he  prayed  mission  stations  into  being,  and  mis- 
sionaries into  faith  ;  he  prayed  open  the  hearts  of  the 
rich,  and  gold  from  the  most  distant  lands."  As  for  his 
sermons,  the  power  of  his  words  was  evidently  in  the 
prayer  which  winged  them  with  a  resistless  force  to  the 
hearts  of  his  hearers  ;  for  prayer  was  the  breath  of  his 
life,  "  Here  I  sit,"  he  would  say,  "  in  my  little  room. 
I  cannot  go  here  and  there  to  arrange  and  order  every- 
thing ;  and  if  I  could,  who  knows  if  it  would  be  well 
done  ?  But  the  Lord  is  there,  who  knows  and  can  do 
everything,  and  I  give  it  all  over  to  Him,  and  beg  Him 
to  direct  it  all,  and  order  it  after  His  holy  will  ;  and  then 
my  heart  is  light  and  joyful,  and  I  believe  and  trust  Him 
that  he  will  carry  it  nobly  out."  This  man's  achieve- 
ments in  the  cause  of  his  Master  were  almost  incredible 
in  their  variety  and  vastness  ;  and  when  he  died,  the 
universal  feeling  of  the  hundreds  of  missionaries  whom 
he  sent  forth  and  sustained,  single-handed,  was,  "  Who 
will  now  pray  for  us?"  This,  too,  was  the  spirit  of 
Wesley,  of  Tranche,  of  Luther,  of  Zwingli,  of  Augustine, 
of  Chrysostom,  of  the  apostle  Paul,  of  all  ministers  and 
Christians  who  have  done  great  works,  who  have  turned 
men  from  darkness  to  light,  who  have  saved  multitudes 
from  perishing,  who  have  built  up  magnificent  benevo- 
lences, who  have  awakened  widespread  reformations  and 
advanced  the  kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  whole  world. 
They  have  been,  without  exception  and  in  a  marked 
degree,  men  of  prayer  and  '*  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  with  power." 


146  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Sec.  10.  Intellectual  and  Scientific  Culture. 

Lord  Bacon,  in  his  "  Maxims  of  the  Law,"  wrote,  "  I 
hold  every  man  to  be  a  debtor  to  his  profession  ;  from 
the  which  as  men  of  course  do  seek  to  receive  counte- 
nance and  profit,  so  ought  they  of  duty  to  endeavor 
themselves  by  way  of  amends  to  be  a  help  and  ornament 
thereunto."  In  like  manner  a  minister  should  cherish 
an  honest  pride  in  his  profession,  as  far  as  it  can  be  re- 
garded as  a  profession,  and  should  desire  to  do  honor  to 
it,  to  elevate  it  in  the  mental  scale,  to  add  something  to 
its  scientific  advancement,  to  give  his  most  skilled  powers 
to  the  thoughtful  and  purely  intellectual  side  of  his 
work. 

A  minister  should  ever  have  before  him  a  high  ideal, 
but  he  should  at  the  same  time  regard  it  in  its  due  rela- 
tions of  parts,  and  not  lose  sight  of  its  great  object  ;  for 
while  his  profession  partakes  of  the  nature  of  many  other 
human  callings,  and  has  much,  in  an  intellectual  point  of 
view,  in  common  with  them,  yet  it  rises  above  them  all, 
and  stands  alone  in  this,  that  it  is  a  work  in  the  domain 
of  spirit,  that  it  is  supremely  a  spiritual  work,  and  that 
its  chief  qualifications  are  spiritual. 

Intellectual  qualifications,  however,  come  in  their 
proper  place.  Scholarly  culture  adds  power  to  the  native 
mind,  compacts  it,  toughens  it,  renders  it  a  more  polished 
instrument  ;  yet  to  make  this  scholarly  culture  the 
highest  aim  of  the  ministry  would  be  an  error,  for  the 
foundation  of  the  ministry  does  not  lie  in  the  sphere  of 
human  intellect,  but  of  those  things  which  are  objects  of 
faith. 

In  reference  to  preaching  as  a  spiritual  exercise,  Dr. 
Skinner  has  some  weighty  remarks.  He  says,  "  The 
nature  of  preaching  as  spiritual  work — work  not  to  be 
done  without  the  co-operation   of  the   Spirit — acquaints 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  147 

US  with  the  part  which  prayer  has  in  preparing  for  it. 
The  divine  does  not  concur  with  the  human,  in  this  free 
and  holy  operation,  but  at  the  urgent  and  continued  ex- 
ertion of  the  human.  May  a  man  make  a  sermon  with- 
out consciously  looking  to  the  Spirit,  and  seeking  His 
assistance,  when  without  this  he  cannot  read  the  Script- 
ures, or  do  aught  else,  as  he  should  ?  It  is  an  intuition 
of  conscience  that  a  preacher  is  required,  by  the  business 
of  his  vocation,  to  be,  above  others,  a  man  of  prayer.  Is 
it  not  manifest  that  this,  in  truth,  must  be  the  main 
business  with  every  preacher  who  really  regards  preaching 
as  an  impossibility  to  man  without  aid  from  above  ?  He 
will,  of  course,  give  to  the  work  study,  invention,  the 
closest  application  of  his  mind,  the  highest  use  of  his 
talent,  learning,  culture  ;  but  in  all,  and  more  than  all, 
he  will  be  praying  in  the  spirit  with  all  prayer  and  suppli- 
cation, that  the  Holy  Spirit  may  not  cease  to  work 
mightily  within  him,  illuminating,  sanctifying,  strength- 
ening, directing  the  exercise  of  his  faculties,  until  he  has 
completed  his  preparation."  If  the  preacher  is  not 
absorbed  in  the  divine  idea  of  his  work,  in  its  dependence 
upon  higher  spiritual  power,  he  has  not  obtained  the  grand 
conception  of  his  work,  and  is  a  tyro  in  it,  or  worse.  If 
he  cannot  hope  to  impart  to  the  people  some  spiritual 
gift,  even  the  blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  by 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost  accompanying  the  Word 
preached,  he  should  cease  to  strive  to  be  a  minister,  and 
give  himself  to  some  lower  employment.  This  gift  of 
the  Spirit  makes  all  men  one  ;  and  a  man  who  preaches 
in  reliance  on  this,  and  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  can  reach 
all  hearts,  and  his  education,  instead  of  spoiling  him  as  a 
preacher  to  ignorant  men,  will  fit  him  to  be  a  better 
preacher  to  them,  as  Christ  humbled  himself  to  the 
lowest  and  poorest  to  raise  them  up. 


148  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  true  preacher,  whose  love,  like  that  of  Paul, 
yearns  toward  every  man,  to  bring  him  to  the  knowledge 
of  Christ,  can  never  "drift  away"  from  any  human 
heart,  or  any  class  of  human  beings,  though  he  were  the 
first  scholar  in  the  world.  His  scholarship  is  an  accident, 
but  his  love  is  a  permanent  condition  of  his  being  ;  it 
fills  him  with  a  higher  spirit,  it  spiritualizes  and  celestial- 
izes  his  nature,  it  makes  him  like  Christ  in  the  compre- 
hensiveness of  his  sympathies,  it  annihilates  human  dis- 
tinctions and  gives  him  a  divine  view  of  man. 

Such  a  man  is  inwardly  compelled  to  cultivate  his  mind 
and  develop  his  powers  that  he  may  have  more  to  give 
to  God,  more  to  use  in  the  service  of  this  divine  love, 
and  that  he  may  grow  and  gain  thereby  other  talents  in 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

He  is  bound  to  do  all  he  can,  and  then  trust  all  to  God. 
Without  this  energy  of  mind  and  of  will  he  cannot  look 
to  God  for  his  energizing  aid  ;  and  it  is  this  very  union 
of  childlike  simplicity  and  spirituality  with  intellectual 
gifts  that  makes  the  able  minister.  God's  work  demands 
our  best  intellectual  effort,  and  nothing  less  than  this, 
-though  not  needed  by  him,  is  worthy  of  him  ;  and  it  is  only 
a  premium  to  indolence  to  decry  intellectual  culture,  for, 
as  Matthew  Arnold  has  well  said,  Hellenism  may  be 
joined  to  Hebraism,  and  the  fruit  will  be  only  the  richer. 
Piety  is  infinitely  more  valuable  than  scholarship,  but 
piety  cannot  make  up  for  lack  of  scholarship,  or  it  can- 
not make  scholars.  It  is  alone  the  well-educated  mind 
that  can  go  to  the  depths  of  a  subject,  or  to  the  depths  of 
a  mind  and  understand  its  wants.  Thorough  scholarship 
(which  only  is  worth  anything  in  the  teacher)  cannot  come 
by  inspiration  ;  to  the  young  Daniel  who  studies  well  as 
well  as  prays  well  the  gift  of  interpretation  is  now  award- 
ed.    He  must  be  a  thorough  scholar  to  meet  the  higher 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  149 

intellectual  demands  of  the  age.  "A  new  method  of 
spirit  of  inquiry  has  been  gradually  developed,  which  is 
characterized  by  an  absolute  freedom  on  the  part  of  the 
inquirer  from  the  influence  of  prepossession  of  desires  as 
to  results.  ~  No  other  method  of  inquiry  now  commands 
respect.  Even  the  ignorant  have  learned  to  despise  the 
process  of  searching  for  proofs  of  a  foregone  conclusion. 
The  civilized  world  has  set  up  a  new  standard  of  intel- 
lectual sincerity,  and  Protestant  theologians  and  minis- 
ters must  rise  to  that  standard  if  they  would  continue  to 
command  the  respect  of  mankind.  The  fault  is  quite  as 
much  that  of  the  churches  or  sects  as  of  the  individual 
ministers,  for  almost  every  church  or  sect  endeavors  to 
tie  its  members,  and  particularly  its  ministers,  to  a  creed, 
a  set  of  articles,  or  a  body  of  formulas.  No  other  pro- 
fession is  under  such  terrible  stress  of  temptation  to  intel- 
lectual dishonesty  as  the  clerical  profession  is,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  public  standard  of  intellectual  candor  has 
been  set  higher  than  ever  before."  '  Piety,  therefore, 
cannot  be  made  a  substitute  for  learning.  The  Script- 
ures call  this  kind  of  pious  apology  for  want  of  learning 
"  a  zeal,  but  not  according  to  knowledge,"  and  which 
leads  to  ignorance  or  the  hiding  of  truth  in  its  fulness 
and  saving  power.  Some,  still  fanatically  hold  the  opin- 
ion that  ministers  are  really  better  without  culture  ;  and 
there  may  be  indeed  good  ministers  without  culture, 
■except  of  the  heart,  as  there  have  been  poets,  like  Burns, 
without  much  learning  ;  but  they  are  not  abler  teachers, 
and  are  relatively  more  uncertain  teachers  the  more  they 
are  deficient  in  the  education  of  their  powers,  the  con- 
trary of  which  would  involve  an  absurdity.  The  work  of 
the  ministry  demands  not  only  actual  knowledge  of  the 


^  President  Eliot. 


150  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

most  accurate  kind,  but  keenness  of  perception  and  that 
breadth  of  wisdom  which  is  the  resultant  of  true  mental 
culture.  If  ministers  have  nothing  but  intellectual  cult- 
ure, or  nothing  but  the  critical  faculty  highly  developed, 
they  are  poor  ;  but  culture  adds  power  to  spiritual  gifts  ; 
and  we  are  called  upon  to  cherish  broad  views  of  our 
ofifice  and  work  as  servants  of  the  all-comprehending  gos- 
pel. We  may  not  close  our  eyes  to  v/hatever  is  divine  in 
nature  and  its  everlasting  types  ;  in  literature,  which  is 
the  spirit  of  God  and  man  embodied  in  language  and  "a 
criticism  of  life"  ;  in  history,  which  is  the  manifestation  of 
divine  will  in  the  education  of  humanity  ;  and  in  art,  which 
is  the  expression  of  the  life  and  spirit  of  peoples  and  ages 
and  the  study  of  beauty  of  the  divine  mind.  We  should 
seek  variety  of  intellectual  culture.  We  should  not  have 
petty  views  of  our  calling,  nor  confine  ourselves  to  the 
mental  metes  and  bounds  of  a  conventional  idea  of  the 
ministry,  but  regard  it  as  the  highest  and  broadest  call- 
ing among  men  to  interpret  the  divine  in  all  things,  to 
teach  the  knowledge  of  God  so  that  men  shall  know, 
love,  and  obey  God  in  His  infinite  fulness  and  perfec- 
tion. 

I.   As  to  the  value  of  scholarly  culture  to  a  minister  of 

the  gospel,  this  may  be  seen  in  the  estimate  set  upon  it 

in  the  Scriptures  ;  for  while  dependence  on 

Value  of      l^uman  wisdom  is  forbidden,  yet  knowledge, 
scholarly  ,  ,     ,  .  .      ,  .  .        .  1 

J.  study,   sound    learnmg,    instruction    in    the 

truth,  are  commended.     Mai.  2:7,  "  For  the 

priest's    lips    should     keep     knowledge."     It    was    the 

preacher  who  wrote  (Prov.    18:    i),  "Through  desire  a 

man,   having  separated   himself,    seeketh   and    intermed- 

djeth  with  all  wisdom."     2   Tim.    2  :  15,  "A  workman 

that  needeth  not  to  be  ashamed,    rightly  dividing  the 

Word  of  truth."     The  apostle   Paul's  quotations  show 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    A/A.V.  151 

not  only  his  scholarship  but  his  conception  of  the  legiti- 
mate uses  of  learning  in  preaching. 

Every  kind  of  truth  which  is  in  conformity  to  fact,  or  to 
the  reality  of  things,  belongs  to  the  unity  of  truth,  or 
belongs,  in  some  sense,  to  the  sphere  of  divine  things,  and 
has  its  bearing  on  the  highest  being  and  reality  ;  thus 
the  most  purely  scientific  fact  is  not  without  its  value  in 
the  knowledge  of  God  ;  and  Christianity  is  a  religion  not 
of  the  imagination  or  of  forms,  but  of  essential  truth, 
of  absolute  truth,  historic,  rational,  and  moral,  and  is 
ever  thus  on  the  side  of  the  highest  intelligence  and 
most  perfect  reason  ;  and  as  science  tends  to  eluci- 
date and  purify  truth  therefore  it  must  necessarily  aid 
faith.  -^1 

I'  Scholarly  Culture  is  also  valuable  because  it  tends  to 
Inake  one  intellectually  humble.  Earnest  study  keeps 
down   self-conceit,  since   it  causes  a  man  to 

see  how  little  he  knows,  and   what  are  the 

humuity. 

limitations  of  human  knowledge,  and  what  is 
truth's  vastness.  To  know  these  things  constitutes  the 
philosophical  foundation  of  Christianity,  which  is  the 
realization  of  human  nothingness  and  its  need  of  higher 
enlightenment.  True  theology  is  humble  because  it  has 
gained  some  conception  of  the  incomprehensibility  of  the 
infinite.  Agnosticism  itself  has  a  certain  truth  when  it  is 
not  made  the  instrument  of  denying  and  obstructing  true 
spiritual  knowledge,  and  turning  men  away  from  the 
seeking  after  God  and  the  knowledge  of  divine  things. 
A  man  who  studies  any  branch  of  science  sees  what  a 
life-long  toil  it  requires  to  make  himself  proficient  in  it, 
to  say  nothing  of  mastering  it,  which  is  rarely  if  ever 
done.  By  study  in  any  direction,  in  any  department  of 
knowledge,  one  is  brought  to  so  many  doors  leading  into 
entirely  new  kingdoms  of  truth,  which  he  can  have  no 


152  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

hope  ever  to  explore,  that  he  grows  less  self-confident,  or 

rather  less  conceited  every  step  he  takes. 

Scholarly  culture,  yet  again,  is  valuable  to  the  minister 

as  a  preventive  of  mental  poverty.     Some  one  has  said, 

"  The     clergyman     debarred,     or     at     least 

Preven  ive  o    ^j^g^ked  from  much  personal  every-day  busi- 
mental  .  ,  ,        ,     / 

oovertv        "^^^     contact    with     strong  -  headed     men, 

should  bring  his  mind  into  contact  with 
masculine  intellects  in  his  library."  An  instructor  who 
fails  to  keep  up  his  studies  is  fast  on  the  road  to  mental 
bankruptcy  ;  and  a  minister,  above  all,  has  this  necessity 
of  study  laid  upon  him,  because  he  cannot,  like  an  ordi- 
nary instructor,  change  his  class  ;  he  has  substantially 
the  same  hearers  before  him  for  years,  perhaps  for  a  life- 
time, and  all  of  them  (or  it  should  be  so)  are  advancing 
intellectually  through  his  instructions.  In  the  course  of 
years,  other  things  being  equal,  a  minister  who  studies 
and  one  who  does  not  will  begin  to  exhibit  a  marked 
difference  in  their  influence  upon  the  community,  and  in 
the  estimation  in  which  they  are  held.  People  discover 
that  the  unstudious  man  is  repeating  himself,  and  that  he 
is  living  on  his  old  stock  in  trade  ;  but  a  studious  man's 
"profiting"  or  actual  gain  will  "appear  unto  all." 
Studious  ministers  wear  out  popular  ministers,  and  grow 
themselves  into  popularity,  if  they  are  not  dryasdusts. 
They  grow  imperceptibly  in  the  public  confidence  ;  their 
opinion  is  worth  more  than  other  men's  ;  they  have  more 
weight  with  other  ministers.  In  the  pulpit  they  will 
gradually  gather  before  them  a  more  substantial  class  of 
hearers,  and  their  congregations  will  themselves  advance 
in  intelligence.  It  is  felt  that  they  rise  with  the  increase 
of  pressure  upon  them,  that  they  are  able  to  meet  the 
intellectual  demands  made  upon  them  by  the  best  and 
leading  minds  in  the  church,  and  that  they  do  honor   to 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  153 

the  town  or  community  where  they  live.  If  their  re- 
Hgious  character  is  commensurate  with  their  intellectual, 
they  come  to  be  regarded  as  invaluable  servants  of  the 
pubhc,  and  their  influence  for  good  is  immeasurable. 
Besides  this,  the  mind  untasked  is  weakened.  It  was 
President  Wayland's  rule  that  in  order  to  increase  the 
force  of  our  mental  faculties  we  should  use  them  to  the 
utmost  ;  if  a  man  wishes  to  become  a  thinker,  he  must 
think  ;  if  a  reasoner,  he  must  reason.  It  is  true  that  a 
minister  can  sometimes  "  get  along"  without  severe 
study,  and  he  could  probably  satisfy  the  intellectual  re- 
quirements of  here  and  there  a  parish  without  destroying 
himself  with  hard  study  ;  yet  in  almost  all  of  our  New 
England,  and,  as  to  that,  Western  villages,  there  are  in- 
tellectual men,  men  of  education,  or,  at  all  events,  men  of 
strong  minds,  who  know  what  good  thinking  and  ser- 
monizing are  ;  so  that,  if  one  does  not  study,  and  slips 
along  with  the  aid  of  a  facile  pen,  he  will  inevitably  lose 
the  respect  of  his  people,  or  of  those  best  capable  of 
judging.  He  will  convince  them  that  he  is  not  in 
earnest.  He  will  also  deteriorate  as  a  preacher.  John 
Wesley  wrote  to  a  minister  who  had  neglected  study, 
"  Hence  your  talent  in  preaching  does  not  increase  ;  it  is 
just  the  same  as  it  was  seven  years  ago.  It  is  lively,  but 
not  deep  ;  there  is  little  variety  ;  there  is  no  compass  of 
thought.  Reading  only  can  supply  this.  You  can  never 
be  a  deep  preacher  without  it,  any  more  than  a  thorough 
Christian."  '  Wesley  exemplified  his  theory  by  his  prac- 
tice :  "  Notwithstanding  his  travel  on  horseback  of  forty- 
five  hundred  miles  a  year,  or  an  equivalent  of  the  circum- 
ference of  the  globe  every  six  years,  he  had  disciplined 
himself  to  maintain  up  to  his  seventieth  year  the  custom 


■  Stevens's  "  History  of  Methodism." 


154  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

of  reading  while  in  his  saddle.  When  engaged,  at  eighty- 
three  years  of  age,  in  writing  the  life  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  he 
maintained  his  study  from  five  in  the  morning  till  eight 
at  night,  and  recorded  his  regret  that  he  could  not  write 
longer  in  a  day  without  hurting  his  eyes.  Of  a  man  who 
could  form  and  sustain  such  habits  it  will  not  be  thought 
strange  that,  notwithstanding  his  itinerancy  of  a  quarter 
of  a  million  of  miles,  his  forty  thousand  preached  ser- 
mons, and  his  more  than  one  hundred  printed  books,  his 
biographer  could  make  this  additional  record,  that  such 
Avas  his  acquaintance  with  the  New  Testament,  when  at  a 
loss  to  repeat  a  text  in  the  words  of  the  authorized  trans- 
lation, he  rarely  was  at  a  loss  to  quote  it  in  the  original 
Greek."'  An  ancient  Church  father  wrote,  ''  Oportet 
enun  episcopus  non  tantiun  docere,  sed  et  discerc ;  quia  et 
ille  melius  docet,  qui  qiiotidie  crcscit  ct  pro  fie  it  diseendo 
meliora. ' '  ^ 

For  his  growth  then,  for  the  demands  of  his  own  mind, 
for  his  increase  in  actual  being,  power,  and  worth,  if  for 
no  other  reasons,  a  minister  should  be  a  diligent  stu- 
dent. 

True  scholarly  culture  also  prevents  a  one-sided  mental 
development.     A  person  engaged  in  one  course  of  study, 

or  labor,  however  important,  is  very  apt  to 

Preventive  of  ,  ,      .  ,  -j    j  i    •      • 

, ,   ,      become  exclusive   and  one-sided,  and  is  m- 
one-sided 
development.  cHned  to  view  and  measure  everything  by  a 

strictly  professional   estimate,    and   to  think 

that  studies  out  of  his  own  line  are  unimportant.      One 

may  thus  be  a  theological  student  all  his  life,  and  nothing 

else,  and   he   may  have  little   conception   of  the  general 

progress  of  science.      He  becomes,  perhaps,  a  strenuous 

partisan  of  some  theological  school  ;  he  travels  around 

'  Bib,  Sac,  July,  1876,  p.  567.        "^  Cyprian,  Epis.  74,  ad  Pompeium. 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  155 

the  same  circle  of  ideas  ;  he  will  admit  nothing  new  into 
his  mind,  and  thus  he  gradually  narrows  his  mind  until  it 
comes  to  a  very  small  point  indeed  ;  but  a  minister  of  the 
all-comprehending,  all-loving  God,  should  be  a  man  of 
liberal  culture,  and  able  himself  to  add  something  to 
theology  from  the  other  sciences.  Thus  if  he  is  a  stu- 
dent of  mineralogy,  or  geology,  or  any  physical  science, 
by  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of  nature's  laws,  he  can 
make  better  sermons  ;  if  he  is  a  man  who  is  in  some 
degree  of  harmony  with  the  advance  of  knowledge,  his 
preaching  will  have  a  freshness  of  proof  and  a  breadth  of 
illustration  that  will  delight  and  impress.  If  he  is  at 
home  in  human  knowledge,  his  people  will  feel  confidence 
that  he  is  well  instructed  in  divine  knowledge.  There  is 
a  simple  parable  sometimes  told  to  children.  A  certain 
king  instructed  his  son  in  the  art  of  governing  men. 
"  The  great  art  of  governing,"  he  said,  "  is  to  make  the  ^ 
l^eople  believe  that  the  king  knows  more  than  his  sub- 
jects." "  But  how, "  asked  the  son,  "  shall  he  make  men 
believe  this?"  The  king  answered,  "By  knowing 
more."  He  who  instructs,  at  least  in  those  things  in 
which  he  instructs  others,  should  strive  to  be  more 
thoroughly  and  profoundly  informed  than  his  hearers. 
He  should  have  a  wide  margin  that  will  make  him  a  free 
instructor  ;  he  should  teach  out  from  himself,  from  the 
inward  richness  and  depth  of  wisdom.  For  what  is  a 
man  of  culture  ?  He  is  one  who  has  developed  his  mind 
from  the  centre  outward  through  all  its  capacities  for 
growth,  the  imagination,  taste,  memory,  and  the  critical 
and  rational  faculties.  He  should  thus  strive  for  a  wide 
and  not  a  mere  professional  culture,  so  that  he  may  be 
able  to  interest  "  the  landholder,  lawyer,  statesman, 
physician,  merchant,  civil  official,  journalist,"  and  not  be 
scared  by  new  countenances  and  new  ideas  when  thrust 


156  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

face  to  face  with  them.  Let  him  remember  that  "  Chris- 
tianity is  a  hfe  and  not  a  bundle  of  dead  opinions.  This 
science  of  life  cannot  be  a  simple,  uniform,  and  rudimen- 
tary branch  of  knowledge,hence  the  need  of  the  minister's 
becoming  acquainted  with  different  sets  of  life's  condi- 
tions." The  knowledge  of  human  motives  and  character 
is  gained  not  only  by  contact  with  men,  but  by  the  study 
of  the  works  of  philosophic  thinkers  who  have  striven 
to  sound  the  depths  of  the  mind  and  the  principles  upon 
which  it  acts,  upon  which,  certain  conditions  given,  it 
must  act. 

Scholarly  culture  also  has  its  influence  to  make  a  com- 
prehensive theologian.     We  are  too  apt  to  view  theology 
solely  in  its  fixed  scientific  forms,  and  not  as 

Comprehen-    ^  growing  knowledge   of  God,  of  all  that   is 
sive  theolo- 

revealed  of  God,  which  comprises  all  other 

knowledges,  and  which  prompts  to  ever  wider 
philosophic  search  and  generalization.  A  man  is  not  a 
theologian  who  has  acquired  some  facility  in  the  use  of 
theological  terms,  or  who  has  read  a  few  of  the  principal 
theological  treatises  ;  there  is  a  Greek  proverb  that  "  He 
is  the  best  divine  who  divines  most  ;"  and  he  is  the  true 
theologian  who  is  a  constant  and  growing  student  of  the 
endless  manifestations  of  the  divine  in  nature,  the  Word, 
and  the  mind  of  man. 

Vinet  says,  *'  All  becomes  theology  for  a  theologian." 
There  is  a  theological  instinct,  or,  as  the  Germans  call  it, 
"'  tJicologiscJie  Gcist,"  which  appropriates  everything  of 
God,  wherever  found  ;  which  brings  all  knowledge  into 
an  organic  whole  ;  which  unites  free  scientific  investiga- 
tion in  every  direction  around  with  a  subordination  of  all 
to  the  spirit  of  Christ.  This  is  a  living  theology,  which 
does  not  suffer  itself  to  become  imprisoned  in  any  one 
speculative   school,   any  one  denominational  sheep-pen, 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A   MAN.  157 

but  gathers  new  ideas  and  widens  its  dominion  over  the 
whole  field  of  truth  ;  and  its  true  field  is  not  contro- 
versy, but  truth  ;  it  is  impelled  by  the  love  of  truth 
wherever  it  can  find  truth. 

And  to  bring  these  remarks  on  the  necessity  of 
thorough  scholarly  culture  to  a  close,  there  is  one  more 
reason  which  might  be  adduced  that  bears  hard  on  the 
ministry  and  its  teaching,  and  that  is,  the  assumption  of 
those  inimical  to  Christian  truth  that  the  most  broad  and 
scientific  scholarship  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  ministry, 
but  outside  of  it.  This  is  used  as  a  conclusive  argument. 
We  must  go,  all  admit,  where  true  scholarship  leads,  but 
it  should  no  longer  be  taken  for  granted  that  there  is  no 
authoritative  scholarship  in  the  ministry,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  the  profoundest  and  most  thorough  scholarship 
should  be  with  the  defenders  of  the  truth,  such  as  silences 
and  puts  to  shame  the  shallower  claims  of  pseudo-scientific 
scholars.  This  has  a  wide  doctrinal  as  well  as  practical 
reach  and  import,  and  could  be  greatly  enlarged  upon  ; 
and  while  few  of  us,  it  may  be,  can  hope  to  attain  to  this 
perfect  standard  of  scholarship,  yet  as  those  to  whom  the 
priceless  gift  of  the  truth  has  been  intrusted,  we  should 
strive  earnestly  for  this  end. 

2.   In  regard  to    the    nature     or    kind    of  ministerial 
studies,  of  course  theology  comes  first.     There  are  cer- 
tain truths  which  God    has    placed    at    the     Mature  of 
foundation,  and    that  cannot    be    placed    at   ministerial 
the     top     without     breaking    through     and     studies- 
destroying  the  whole  edifice    of  truth  ;  and    ^"so^o&y- 
the  minister  of  Christ    should  strive    to    discover    this 
divine  order  and  system,  and  to  arrive  at  essential  truth, 
to  separate  the  real   from  the  speculative,  the  true   from 
the  empirical,  the  divine  from  the  human.     This  every 
minister  may  do,  to  some  extent,  for  himself.      "  Never- 


158  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

theless  theology  is  at  once  an  inductive  and  a  deductive 
science  ;  it  has  its  analytic  as  well  as  its  sympathetic 
side.  It  is  inductive,  and  depends  upon  observation  and 
experiment,  in  all  matters  which  touch  its  practical  appli- 
cation to  social  and  individual  needs,  in  its  faculty  of  con- 
structing new  tools  to  achieve  new  tasks,  in  its  tentative 
array  of  hypotheses  in  matters  of  speculative  doctrine, 
until  that  tenet  finally  prevails  which  complements  and 
harmonizes  with  the  body  of  dogmatic  belief  already  ac- 
cepted. The  moment  a  clergyman  descends  from  the 
pulpit  where  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  deductive  task 
of  teaching  certain  received  doctrines,  and  that  he  has  to 
deal  with  any  scheme  of  improvement,  sanitary,  educa- 
tional, or  social — the  moment  he  attempts  to  influence 
the  feelings  and  conduct  of  any  one  single  person,  then 
the  necessity  for  induction  makes  itself  at  once  apparent, 
and  the  utility  of  non-professional  studies  becomes 
visible  in  a  hundred  ways."  The  theological  student 
should  carry  on  an  independent  process  of  induction,  and 
he  should  take  human  theologians,  not  in  the  light  of  mas- 
ters— "  for  one  is  your  Master,  even  Christ" — but  rather 
as  guides  to  a  higher  system  of  truth,  which,  perhaps, 
can  never  be  perfected  in  this  world,  so  that  he  is  always 
a  student  ;  and  as  a  preacher  he  is  always  turning  theo- 
logical science  into  life  for  the  good  of  humanity. 
"  Science  can  be  religious,  not  in  the  false  sense  of  re- 
ligion putting  a  band  about  learning,  but  in  the  true 
sense  in  which  only  science  can  be  consecrated,  by  its 
uses,  by  devoting  itself  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  welfare 
of  the  people.  Theology,  as  a  science,  needs,  above  all 
others,  this  consecration.  Theology,  without  a  practical 
outcome  toward  religion,  tends  to  become  barren  and 
frigid.  Theology  is  the  knowledge  of  God  ;  as  a  science, 
it   is  that  knowledge  historically  studied,  as   it  has  been 


•  THE  PASTOR   AS  A    MAN".  159 

formulated  in  the  great  conceptions  which  have  guided 
the  life  of  men  and  nations.  The  student  of  theology- 
can  therefore  study  it  but  incompletely  if  he  make  him- 
self acquainted  only  with  the  historical  conceptions,  and 
not  with  the  moral  and  spiritual  forces  amid  which  they 
have  moved  and  worked,  and  by  which  their  vitality  is 
tested." 

Those  standard  theological  writers  whom  the  theologi- 
cal student  has  read,  perhaps  fragmentarily  or  only  in 
quotation,  he  should,  if  possible,  begin  to  read  with  more 
care  in  the  original  ;  and  thus  he  comes  at  the  views  of 
theologians  in  the  past  at  first  hand,  for  they  belong  to 
him  as  much  as  they  do  to  any  other  theologian.  Of 
course  the  chief  source  of  theology  is  the  Word  of  God, 
and  to  hold  to  the  true  inspiration  of  the  Word,  the 
divine  revelation  of  God  that  there  is  in  it,  without 
bibliolatry,  to  be  "  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament, 
not  of  the  letter,  but  of  the  spirit" — this  is  the  narrow 
and  difficult  road  which  the  theologians  of  the  present 
age  have  to  walk. 

Philological  and  linguistic  studies,  in  these  days,  be- 
long to  a  thorough  culture  ;  indeed,  we  are 

disposed  to  place  their  value  above  the  study       '  °  ogica 

and  linguis- 
of   theology,  queen  of    sciences   as  it  is,  be-    ^-^  studies 

cause  they  enable  the  minister  to  study  the 

Bible  independently,  and  to   arrive  at  original  views  of 

revealed  religion.     The  study  of  the  Hebrew  language, 

though  difficult,  yet,  after  the  scholar  has  broken  through 

the  rough  rind  of  the  language,  is  not  extremely  difficult 

for  practical  purposes,  and  it  affords  a  life-long  banquet  ; 

for  in  the  Hebrew  we  seem  to  approach  to  the  simplicity 

of  nature,  and  perhaps  to  the  very  words  of  God.     Its , 

antique  grandeur   and   unsoftened   strength,  seen  in  the 

predominance  of  the  consonantal   element  and  the  pres- 


i6o  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ervation  of  the  simple  root,  despising  inflections  which 
cannot  be  grafted  upon  the  root  itself — the  radical  and 
underived  superiority  of  its  verbs  showing  their  primitive 
emotive  formation — these  and  other  features  lead  us 
back  to  what  the  Germans  call  the  ^'  nr-wclt" — to  the 
elder  hills  and  plains,  the  shepherds,  and  the  period 
when  men  came  near  God  in  the  fresh  youth  of  the 
world.  A  writer  in  the  Edinburgh  Review  says,  "  A 
knowledge  of  Greek,  notwithstanding  the  assaults  made 
upon  it,  is,  fortunately,  still  considered  absolutely 
necessary  for  the  clergy  ;  but,  in  the  present  state  of 
theological  controversy,  a  thorough  knowledge  of  Hebrew 
is  even  more  necessary.  On  almost  every  disputed 
point  of  biblical  criticism,  the  man  who  is  not  a  Hebrew 
scholar  is  entirely  at  the  mercy  of  the  man  who  is." 
The  theological  importance  of  the  study  of  the  Hebrew 
can  hardly  be  overestimated.  "  Philology  is  the  border- 
land of  mind  and  matter,  where  the  delivery  of  mental 
conceptions  is  at  once  conditioned  and  limited  by  the 
organs  of  speech,  and  those  organs  stimulated  by  mental 
necessities  resulting  in  language.  This  is  seen  in  the 
Hebrew  literature,  a  language  chiefly  of  oral  speech — the 
language  of  revelation  furnishing  the  idioms  of  the  New 
Testament  Greek,  and  so  underlying  the  Greek  that  an 
ignorance  of  the  dialects  of  the  Hebrew  prophets  causes 
a  man  to  be  in  the  dark  in  the  understanding  of  the 
apostles  and  the  evangelists.  Acquaintance  with  Hebrew 
terms  gives  the  theologian  a  confidence,  so  that  Luther 
declared  he  would  not  part  with  his  Hebrew  knowledge 
for  mines  of  gold.  Christian  theologians  should  have 
paid  more  attention  to  Hebrew,  and  thereby  they  would 
have  improved  their  theology."  The  thorough  revision 
of  Hebrew  history,  and  of  the  Pentateuchal  question  in 
particular,  which  is  now  going  on,  is  one  of  the  most  in- 


THE  PASTOR   AS  A    MAN.  i6i 

teresting  movements  of  modern  biblical  investigation, 
and  one  which  goes  deep  into  all  questions  of  inspira- 
tion, of  dogmatic  theology,  and  of  the  philosophy  of 
theism  as  well  as  of  that  form  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
comes  down  to  us  through  Semitic  sources.  The  abso- 
lute need  of  the  study  of  Greek  we  need  not  discuss. 
The  knowledge  of  Greek  which  most  educated  ministers 
possess,  not  being  kept  up  to  the  critical  standard,  is  in- 
sufficient for  original  research,  and  is  apt  to  break  down 
at  the  decisive  point.  In  difficult  and  doubtful  pas- 
sages, it  is  only  the  man  who  is  profoundly  acquainted 
with  the  idioms  of  classic  and  of  Hellenic  Greek  who 
is  of  any  value  or  authority.  How  many  are  the  pe- 
culiar variations  which  might  be  enumerated  in  the  New 
Testament  Greek  simply  in  the  meaning  of  the  pres- 
ent tense  of  the  verb,  as,  for  example,  a  general  truth 
or  an  habitual  custom  ;  as  including  the  present 
past  time  only  ;  as  expressing  a  foreseen  evil  ;  as  de- 
noting a  close  sequence  of  events  ;  as  denoting  what  is 
just  about  to  take  place,  and  so  on  !  Bradford  Homer, 
who,  if  he  did  not  live  to  make  so  deep  a  mark  as  a 
preacher,  was,  like  Frederick  Robertson,  a  fine  Greek 
scholar,  and  made  Demosthenes'  "  Oration  on  the 
Crown"  his  constant  study,  not  only  to  help  him  in  his 
style,  but  in  his  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures.  The 
reading  of  Plato,  in  its  moral  uses  to  a  minister,  as  a 
standard  of  comparison  in  philosophical  and  Christian 
ethics,  is  perhaps  of  more  benefit  than  even  in  its 
philological  and  strictly  scholarly  uses.  We  will  not 
dwell  upon  the  study  of  Latin,  which  is  not  only  the 
language  of  Cicero  and  Seneca,  but  of  the  writings  of  the 
Latin  fathers,  also  of  the  German  and  French  reformers, 
and  of  Turretin,  Grotius,  and  the  standard  Latin  com- 
mentators. 


l62  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Let  US  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  classical 
attainments  are  absolutely  essential  to  a  minister  of  Jesus 
Christ,  yet  they  are  manifestly  most  useful.  Greek  may 
be,  indeed,  in  the  Old  World,  a  sure  road  to  a  bishopric  ; 
but  there  are  ministers  of  the  gospel  who  cannot  read 
New  Testament  Greek,  and  who  are  true  guides  and 
shepherds  of  souls,  and  eminently  useful  preachers, 
though  perhaps  none  more  than  they  grieve  over  their 
want  of  learning. 

The  importance  of  the  knowledge  of  the  German 
language,  while  often  regarded  in  an  extravagant  light, 
is  doubtless  great  ;  and,  rich  as  is  the  German  literature, 
the  language  is  chiefly  valuable  to  a  minister  as  the  lan- 
guage of  philological  science,  of  true  learning,  which,  it 
must  be  confessed,  is  principally,  in  our  day,  to  be  found 
in  the  German  ;  yet  let  the  preacher  beware  of  becoming 
Germanized  in  his  thought  or  his  style  ;  if  so,  farewell  to 
his  usefulness  in  the  pulpit  ;  but  let  him  keep  his  German 
for  the  study  and  his  English  for  the  pulpit.  The  mat- 
ter of  style,  an  important  one  to  the  preacher,  lies  very 
much  in  the  domain  of  humane  linguistic  studies, 
especially  of  Greek,  which  is  the  perfection  of  form. 
There  is  in  style,  a  charm  and  a  power  that  have  been 
much  overlooked  in  our  seminaries,  going  upon  the 
principle  that  if  students  can  only  furnish  themselves  with 
accurate  knowledge  and  learn  how  to  think,  they  will  know 
how  to  express  themselves  and  to  write  and  speak — a 
great  error,  and  one  that  has  sadly  told  upon  the  power 
and  usefulness  of  many  an  able  and  scholarly  man  in  the 
pulpit. 

One  is  apt  to  be  discouraged  in  regarding  the  scholarly 
requirements  of  his  profession  thus  en  masse  ;  but  if  one 
views  it  in  a  common-sense,  practical  way,  this  discour- 
agement vanishes.      Let  it  be  supposed  that  a  minister  is 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  163 

already,  to  some  extent,  an  educated  man,  at  least  pro- 
fessionally ;  he  has  thus  made  a  beginning  of  the  study  of 
theology  ;  he  knows  already  something  of  the  bounds  and 
limits  of  that  great  science,  of  its  history  and  literature  ; 
he  is  also  more  or  less  familiar  with  Latin,  Greek,  and 
Hebrew  ;  he  may  have  made  some  little  progress  in  Ger- 
man :  now,  all  that  is  to  be  done  (and  this  is  the  way  to 
true  scholarly  culture)  is  to  keep  up  these  studies  faith- 
fully, and  not  to  suffer  himself  to  lose  the  ground  already 
gained  ;  and  he  need  not  become  a  mere  scholar  in  the 
process,  or  lose  the  fire  of  action,  or  interfere  with  the 
more  important  duties  of  the  ministry.  "It  is  not  so 
much  encyclopaedic  reading,  nor  even  the  mastery  of 
two  or  three  important  studies,  as  it  is  the  cultivation  of 
a  habit  of  mind  at  once  broad  and  accurate,  and  yet 
imaginative,  which  is  valuable." 

The  study  of  metaphysics  is  of  most  obvious  value  to 
the  theologian  ;  for  although  the  Scriptures 
and  divine  things  cannot  be  comprehended  ^.^^  ysics, 
by  the  mere  reason  or  rationalized  intelli-  j  .^.  ^^^  ' 
gence,  yet  the  human  mind  looked  at  as 
one  —  reason,  heart,  and  will  —  is  concerned  in  this 
knowledge,  and  no  one  factor  can  be  lost.  Reason  and 
will  are  complements  and  essential  to  each  other.  We 
apprehend  doctrine  by  thought  as  well  as  by  feel- 
ing. "  Some  careful  study  of  psychology,  some  sys- 
tematic metaphysical  training,  should  form  part  of  the 
culture  of  every  educated  man,  and  how  much  more  of 
him  who  deals  with  the  soul's  higher  powers.  It  is 
especially  needed  for  a  teacher  of  theology,  or  religion. 
He  should  know  the  rationale  of  religious  belief.  In  one 
sense  a  doctrine  which  contains  no  idea  which  our  men- 
tal eye  can  behold  is  no  proper  object  of  faith — we  can- 
not know  and  understand  it.     Religion,  though  chiefly  a 


i64  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

matter  of  the  will  and  the  feelings,  is  also  a  matter  of  the 
reason,  especially  if  we  view  reason  not  merely  as  the 
faculty  of  judging  and  comparing  and  reflecting,  but  as 
the  organ  of  spiritual  truth,  the  eye  of  the  mind  which 
perceives  the  substantial  ideas  and  results  of  religion. 
According  to  our  metaphysical  system,  so  our  methods  of 
apprehending  and  teaching  truth  will  be  right  or  wrong." 
Christ  came  to  save  us  from  ignorance  as  well  as  sin,  and 
his  minister  should  be  the  minister  of  light,  diffusing 
about  him  the  clear  light  of  a  rational  philosophy. 

Without  speaking  further  of  those  studies  in  metaphys- 
ics, philosophy,  logic,  natural  science,  history,  criticism, 
music,  and  art,  and,  above  all,  the  fresh  rich  fields  of 
English  literature,  which  are  required  to  build  up  a  broad 
culture,  attained  by  few,  and  perhaps  unattainable  except 
by  a  few,  yet  when  vivified  by  faith,  presenting  a  noble 
type  of  the  Christian  scholar,  let  us  now  look  at — 
-  3.  The  method  of  study. 

Jonathan     Edwards    speaks    of    himself    thus  :   "  My 
method  of  study,  from  my  first  beginning  the  work  of 

the  ministry,  has  been  very  much  by  writing; 

Method  of  ,    .  ir     •      ^i  •  a.        • 

applymg  myself,   m  this    way,   to    improve 

every  important  hint  ;  pursuing  the  clew  to 

my   'Utmost  when   anything    in  reading,    meditation,   or 

conversation  has  been  suggested  to  my  mind  that  seemed 

to  promise  light  on  any  weighty  point  ;  thus    penning 

what  appeared  to  me  my  best  thoughts,  on  innumerable 

subjects,  for  my  own  benefit.      The  longer  I  prosecute 

my  studies  in  this  method,  the  more  habitual  it  becomes, 

and  the  more  pleasant  and  profitable  I  find  it."  * 

Samuel  Hopkins  says  of  himself,  "  I  have  been  able  to 

study  fourteen  hours  in  a  day,  generally  rising  at  four 


'  Life,  Lon.  ed.,  p.  216. 


THE  PASTOR   AS  A    MAN.  165 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  or  between  four  and  five,  espe- 
cially in  the  winter  season." 

The  simple  diet  and  equable  habits,  as  well  as  giant 
frame  and  giant  will,  of  this  New  England  theologian, 
enabled  him  to  do  this  ;  but  Christian  pastors  of  this  day 
cannot  be  the  close  in-door  students  that  ministers  once 
were  :  their  purely  pastoral  duties  have,  happily,  in- 
creased, and  they  work  more  in  the  society  of  living  men 
and  living  interests  than  formerly  they  did. 

Dr.  Emmons  (Park's  Memoir,  p.  71)  says,  "  I  made 
a  practice  of  paying  my  principal  attention  to  but  one 
subject  at  a  time.  This  had  a  happy  tendency  to  en- 
gage all  the  powers  of  the  mind,  and  especially  to  set 
invention  at  work,  which  is  a  faculty  very  necessary  to 
investigate  truth,  and  which  nothing  but  necessity  or  a 
firm  resolution  will  call  into  exercise.  It  is  much  easier 
to  read,  to  hear,  to  converse,  than  to  investigate  ;  which 
requires  the  whole  attention  of  the  mind  to  be  steadily 
fixed  upon  one  subject.  Reading  and  conversing  upon  a 
subject  will  never  make  a  master  of  it,  without  close  and 
steady  thinking,  and  a  fair  and  full  decision.  And  no 
man  can  make  a  fair  and  full  decision  upon  any  abstract 
or  intricate  point  until  he  has  thoroughly  examined  it  on 
all  sides,  and  fairly  balanced  the  principal  arguments  for 
and  against  it.  Hence  I  perceived  the  importance  of 
attending  to  but  one  subject  at  a  time,  and  of  not  leaving 
that  subject  before  I  came  to  a  satisfactory  and  final 
decision."  This  was  Dr.  Emmons's  golden  rule.  He 
had  a  large  idea  of  ministerial  mental  culture.  He  says 
(p.  72),  "I  accustomed  myself  to  attend  to  all  subjects 
which  appeared  to  be  naturally  connected  with  divinity, 
and  calculated  to  qualify  me  for  the  work  of  the  minis- 
try.  That  all  the  arts  and  sciences  bear  some  relation  to 
each  other,  was  long  ago  observed  by  Cicero,  and  has 


1 66  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ever  since  been  found  to  be  true  by  all  who  have  read  and 
studied  upon  an  extended  scale.  It  is  extremely  diffi- 
cult to  gain  a  close  understanding  of  natural  and  revealed 
religion  without  a  considerable  degree  of  general  knowl- 
edge. The  more  I  attended  to  theology,  the  more  I  was 
convinced  of  the  importance  of  acquainting  myself  with 
history,  ethics,  metaphysics,  and  civil  polity." 
'  Again,  he  says  (p.  82),  "  Let  divinity  be  your  supreme 
study,  with  an  eye  to  which  let  all  your  other  reading, 
study,  conversation,  and  remarks  be  directed." 

Again  (p.  82),  "  Begin  the  study  of  divinity  at  the 
root,  and  not  at  the  branches  ;  that  is  to  say,  begin  at 
the  first  principles  of  theology,  which  are  few  and  plain, 
and  afterward  trace  them  out  in  their  various  conse- 
quences." 

And  still  again  (p.  82),  "  Follow  not  too  strictly  the 
path  of  any  particular  divine  or  divines  :  for  by  following 
you  will  never  overtake  them  ;  but  endeavor,  if  possible, 
to  find  out  some  new,  nearer,  and  easier  way  by  which 
you  may  get  before  them,  and  really  add  some  pittance 
to  the  common  stock  of  theological  knowledge." 

Some  of  his  general  observations  upon  study  and  read-, 
ing  are  admirable,  and  worthy  of  being  kept  in  constant 
remembrance.  "  Steady,  patient,  persevering  thinking 
will  generally  surmount  every  obstacle  in  the  search  of 
truth."  "  In  reading  authors,  aim  more  at  possessing 
yourselves  with  their  general  scheme  and  principal  argu- 
ments than  with  particular  expressions  and  incidental  sen- 
timents ;  and  while  you  labor  to  retain  their  ideas,  labor 
to  forget  their  words,  which,  if  retained,  will  tend  to  pre- 
vent your  making  their  idea  your  own."  He  was  accus- 
tomed to  say,  "  Never  despair  of  a  student  who  has  one 
clear  idea." 

The  peculiarity  of  Bela  B.  Edwards's  mind  and  scholar- 


THE  PASTOR   AS  A    MAN.  167 

ship  was  in  what  the  Greeks  called  aupilSsia,  or  exact- 
ness ;  critical  precision  in  his  method  of  study,  going  on 
slowly,  but  surely,  to  the  mastering  of  ten  languages, 
and  to  the  reading  of  Hebrew  as  one  would  read  English  ; 
his  learning  meanwhile  not  extinguishing  his  imagination, 
taste,  or  piety. 

Dr.  Chalmers,  even  in  the  most  active  portion  of  his 
life,  was  able  to  secure  daily,  on  an  average,  five  hours  of 
study.  His  biographer  said  of  him,  "  His  strength  lay 
in  his  indomitable  resolution  to  master  whatever  he  had 
undertaken  to  do."  There  was  nothing  spurious  in  his 
fame  ;  it  was  the  result  of  severe  labor  and  thought. 
Chalmers  said  of  himself  that  "  the  more  labor  he  put  in 
a  sermon,  the  more  effective  he  always  found  it  to  be."  . 
He  believed  in  hard  study,  and  often  quoted  a  saying  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  when  asked  if  a  man  should  wait  for  an  in- 
spiration before  he  wrote,  "  No,  sir  ;  he  should  sit  down 
doggedly." 

Dr.  Wayland  says  very  much  the  same  thing  about 
himself — that  "  whatever  he  had  accomplished  in  the 
world  had  been  done  by  days'  works." 

Macaulay's  life  is  rich  in  suggestion  to  the  worker  and 
scholar.  His  biographer,  Mr.  Trevelyan,  says  of  him, 
"  The  main  secret  of  Macaulay's  success  lay  in  this, 
that  to  an  extraordinary  fluency  and  facility  he  uni- 
ted patient,  minute,  and  persistent  diligence.  He  well 
knew,  as  Chaucer  knew  before  him,  that 

'  There  is  na  workman 
That  can  bothe  worken  well  and  hastilie. 
This  must  be  done  at  leisure  parfaitlie.' 

If  his  method  of  composition  ever  comes  into  fashion, 
books  probably  will  be  better,  and  undoubtedly  will  be 
shorter."     Yet  he  differed  somewhat  from  the  opinion  of 


1 68  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Dr.  Johnson,  for  he  says  of  himself,  "  I  had  no  heart  to 
write.  I  am  too  self-indulgent  in  this  matter,  it  may  be  ; 
and  yet  I  attribute  much  of  the  success  which  I  have  had 
to  my  habit  of  writing  only  when  I  am  in  the  humor,  and 
of  stopping  as  soon  as  the  thoughts  and  words  cease  to 
flow  fast.  There  are,  therefore,  few  lees  in  my  wine.  It 
is  all  the  cream  of  the  bottle.  ..."  Macaulay  deserved 
the  compliment  which  Cecil  paid  to  Sir  Walter  Raleigh 
as  the  supreme  of  commendations  :  '  I  know  that  he  can 
labor  terribly.'  He  never  allowed  a  sentence  to  pass 
muster  until  it  was  as  good  as  he  could  make  it.  He 
thought  little  of  recasting  a  chapter  in  order  to  obtain  a 
more  lucid  arrangement,  and  nothing  whatever  of  recon- 
structing a  paragraph  for  the  sake  of  one  happy  stroke  or 
illustration.  Whatever  the  worth  of  his  labor,  at  any 
rate  it  was  a  labor  of  love."  Leonardo  da  Vinci  would 
walk  the  whole  length  of  Milan  that  he  might  alter  a 
single  tint  in  his  picture  of  the  Last  Supper.  Napoleon 
kept  the  returns  of  his  army  under  his  pillow  at  night  to 
refer  to  in  case  he  was  sleepless. 

F.  W.  Robertson's  biography  affords  hints  of  the 
methods  in  which  his  scholarly  culture,  that  gave  such 
depth  and  such  nobility  of  form  to  everything  he  wrote, 
was  obtained.  He  was  an  indefatigable  and  systematic 
worker.  He  studied  German  by  making  written  transla- 
tions of  the  best  German  authors.  He  said  of  himself, 
"  I  read  hard  or  not  at  all — never  skimming,  never  turn- 
ing aside  to  many  inviting  books  ;  and  Plato,  Aristotle, 
Butler,  Thucydides,  Jonathan  Edwards,  have  passed  like 
the  iron  atoms  of  the  blood  into  my  mental  constitution." 
In  the  conflicts  of  the  day  upon  the  inspiration  and  canon 
of  the  Scriptures,  he  felt  the  need  of  an  accurate  and  am- 
ple knowledge  of  the  Bible.  His  biographer  says  of  him, 
"  It  was  his    habit,   when  dressing    in  the  morning,  to 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  169 

commit  to  memory  daily  a  certain  number  of  verses  of 
the  New  Testament.  In  this  way,  before  leaving  the 
university,  he  had  gone  twice  over  the  English  version 
and  once  and  a  half  through  the  Greek.  With  his  emi- 
nent power  of  arrangement,  he  mentally  combined  and 
recombined  all  the  prominent  texts  under  fixed  heads  of 
subjects.  He  said,  long  afterward,  to  a  friend,  that, 
owing  to  this  practice,  no  sooner  was  any  Christian  doc- 
trine or  duty  mentioned  in  conversation,  or  suggested  to 
him  by  what  he  was  writing,  than  all  the  passages  bear- 
ing on  the  point  seemed  to  array  themselves  in  order  be- 
fore him."  '  His  idea  of  study  was  to  have  some  plan, 
even  if  a  poor  one,  which  prevented  discursiveness — in 
his  own  words,  "  the  steady  habit  of  looking  forward  to 
a  distant  end,  unalterably  working  on  until  he  had  at- 
tained it — the  habit,  in  fact,  of  never  beginning  anything 
which  is  not  to  be  finished." 

A  few  plain  and  practical  suggestions  will  conclude  this 
particular  theme,      (i)  Systematize  time.     The  economy 

of  time   is  a  golden  secret.      Many  men  of 

r     .,        J  J.  J     1       •     1  •     ^-        Systematize 

frail  and  even  diseased  physical  organization  . 

^     ^  *=".  time. 

have  accomplished  wonders  by  carrying  out  a 
regular  plan  of  study,  and  making  all  things  bend  to  it. 
It  is  well  for  one's  people  to  get  the  idea  that  the  morn- 
ing is  sacred  to  study,  and  not  to  be  broken  in  upon,  ex- 
cepting in  cases  of  necessity.  Many  a  noble  mind  has 
been  prostrated  by  midnight  study  ;  and  sleep  is  quite  as 
essential  to  the  student  as  to  the  day  laborer.  No  man, 
excepting  at  critical  times,  when  an  extraordinary  effort 
is  called  for,  is  justified  in  violating  the  plain  laws  of 
health  in  his  studies.  System  and  industry  should  make 
up  for  the  necessity  of  injuriously  protracted  labor. 


'  Robertson's  Life,  v.  i.,  p.  18. 


170  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

Let  the  minister  rightly  order  his  week's  labor  ;  it 
were  well  for  him  to  bring  the  strain  of  the  week's  work 
upon  Friday  instead  of  Saturday — better  to  sit  up  late 
Friday  night  than  Saturday  night — for  there  should  be 
relaxation  and  a  breathing  time  before  Sunday.  Monday 
— "  cool  as  Monday  morning" — he  may  devote  to  lighter 
business  matters,  which  will  lead  him  out  of  the  house 
to  walk  or  ride,  and  this  may  be  the  day  for  him  to  take 
a  long  draught  of  the  free  air  of  fields  and  nature. 
Tuesday  is  a  capital  day  for  general  study  and  mental 
culture,  without  so  much  of  particular  aim  to  sermon 
writing.  By  Wednesday  the  subject  of  the  sermon  is 
fixed  upon  and  something  done  toward  the  collecting  of 
material  for  thought  ;  and  Thursday  and  Friday  are  good 
days  for  writing-  sermons,  or  for  special  preparation  for 
the  pulpit  ;  and  if  one  have  a  week-day  lecture  he  should 
extemporize  and  expound  so  that  he  may  thus  block  out 
the  material  for  a  future  sermon.  Two  preaching  exer- 
cises on  Sunday,  one  of  them  in  the  afternoon,  is  the 
old-fashioned  plan,  and  some  think  still  the  best  plan  ; 
otherwise  one  cannot  secure  all  the  good  possible  from 
Sunday  services  ;  that  the  second  sermon  is  needed 
to  make  up  the  imperfections  of  the  first,  and  to  give 
moral  unity  and  impression  to  the  instruction  of  the  day  ; 
while  the  evening  should  be  kept  for  the  prayer-meeting, 
where  the  church  and  the  people  can  have  an  opportunity 
to  express  their  own  views  and  feelings.  In  this  way  the 
pastor  can  come  to  know  something  of  the  influence  his 
preaching  may  have  produced,  and  of  the  state  of  the  re- 
ligious feeling  of  his  congregation.  Besides,  there  are 
many  stormy  Sundays  in  the  year,  when  the  old  and  the 
infirm  will  not  come  to  church  in  the  evening,  but,  if 
possible,  will  be  more  apt  to  do  so  in  the  afternoon. 
Thus  the  minister  can  make  the  most  practically  of  his 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  171 

Sundays.  Besides  a  general  plan  of  study,  the  pastor 
may  economize  his  time  by  devoting  certain  portions  of 
every  day  to  some  particular  study  or  pursuit.  Let  half 
an  hour  each  day,  for  instance,  be  given  to  Greek,  and  it 
is  wonderful  how  much  a  man  may  accomplish  by  this 
daily  half  hour  in  a  year.  These  fragments  of  time  are 
to  be  carefully  gathered.  The  motto  of  an  Italian  scholar 
was,  "Time  is  my  estate."  Patient  work  as  distin- 
guished from  restless  excitement,  having  in  it  the  ele- 
ment of  the  tranquil  love  of  truth,  infinitely  removed 
from  the  love  of  display  or  the  ambitious  motive,  will 
alone  accomplish  enduring  results. 

"  One  lesson,  Nature,  let  me  learn  of  thee, 
One  lesson,  that  in  every  wind  is  blown  ; 
One  lesson  of  two  duties  serv'd  in  one, 
Though  the  loud  world  proclaim  their  enmity — 
Of  Toil  unsever'd  from  Tranquillity  ; 
Of  Labor,  that  in  still  advance  outgrows 
Far  noisier  schemes,  accomplish'd  in  Repose, 
Too  great  for  haste,  too  high  for  rivalry. 
Yes,  while  on  earth  a  thousand  discords  ring, 
Man's  senseless  uproar  mingling  with  his  toil. 
Still  do  thy  sleepless  ministers  move  on, 
Their  glorious  tasks  in  silence  perfecting  ; 
Still  working,  blaming  still  our  vain  turmoil ; 
Laborers  that  shall  not  fail  when  man  is  gone."  ' 

(2)  Seek  concentration  in  study.  The  German  writer 
John  George  Hamann  had  a  favorite  idea,  which  he  ex- 
presses in  many  ways,  that  "  whatever  a  man 

undertakes    to    do,  whether  it  be  a  great  or 

tion. 

small  work,  he  should  give  the  entire  energies 
of  his  mind  to  it,  and  there  should  be  no  partial  works." 
This  is  that  principle  of  thoroughness  which  one  is  so 
long  in  learning,  but  which  alone  can  make   a  scholar. 


Matthew  Arnold. 


172  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Thoreau    says,  "  If  we    drive  a  nail,  it  should  be  done 

thoroughly."     Concentration   is  the  law  of  true  mental 

progress  :  from   one  point,  clearly   understood,  the  area 

of  related   knowledge   around   increases — slowly  at  first, 

then    more    rapidly  ;  and    this    ability  of    concentrated 

thought  is  the  supreme  mental  achievement,  which,  once 

acquired,  so  far  as  the  intellectual  part  of  his  profession 

is  concerned,  the  minister  is  prepared  for  his  work.     It  is 

not  merely  seeming  to  be  a  great  worker,  but  it  is  fixing 

the  mind  with  a  determined  attention  upon   one  subject, 

and  holding  it  there.     A  brilliant  modern  English  writer 

has  said,  "  Whatever  I   have  tried  to  do  in  life,  I  have 

tried  with  all  my  heart  to  do  well.     What  I  have  devoted 

myself  to,  I  have  devoted  myself  to  completely.     Never 

to  put  one  hand  to  anything  on  which  1   could  throw  my 

whole  self,  and  never  to  affect  depreciation  of  my  work, 

whatever   it  was,    I   find   now  to  have  been  my  golden 

rule."     Charles  Kingsley  also  gave  his  testimony  on  this 

point  ;  he  said   half  in  jest  and    half  in   earnest,   "  My 

blessed   habit   of  intensity,  which  has  been   my  greatest 

help   in   life.      I   go  at  what   I  am  about  as  if  there  was 

nothing  else  in  the  world  for  the  time  being.     That's  the 

secret  of  all  hard-working  men  ;  but  most  of  them  can't 

carry  it  into  their  amusements.     Luckily  for  me,  I  can 

stop  from  all  work  at  short  notice,  and  turn   heels  over 

head  in  the  sight  of  all  creation  for  a  spell."  '     This  leads 

to  still  another  suggestion.     (3)  When  one  works,  let  him 

work  ;  when  one  plays,  let   him  play.      In  the  process  of 

study,  the  nervous  system  is  drawn   upon   to 
Work  and  ,  .        ,  ,  .    .  ,      ,       . 

.  supply  stimulus    and   activity  to  the  brain  ; 

when,  therefore,  one  wishes  to  recreate  and 

refresh    his  mind,  let  him  not  blend   the  intellectual  with 


"  Life  of  Kingsley,"  p.  321. 


THE  PASTOR  ASA    MAN.  173 

the  physical  exercise  ;  let  him  not  take  a  Greek  classic 
to  walk  with  him,  for,  although  he  may  and  must  carry 
around  his  sermon  in  his  head  with  him,  yet  he  should 
do  the  hard  thinking  in  his  study,  and  leave  nature  some 
free  play  and  liberty.  The  German  student  devotes  a 
small  portion  of  the  day  to  entire  relaxation,  to  genuine 
play  ;  and  that  is  one  reason  why  he  can  achieve  such  in- 
credible results  in  the  way  of  study.  (4)  Employ  proper 
helps.  The  habit  of  writing  while  studying  was,  we  have 
seen,  the  method  of  the  elder  Edwards  ;  and 

it  is  said  by  some,  Never  read  or  study  with-       ,   , 

■'       ^  ^  •'  helps. 

out  the  pen  in  hand.  There  is,  however, 
much  difference  of  opinion  here  ;  for  what  one  gains  by 
note-books  he  is  apt  to  lose  in  mental  power  and  tenac- 
ity ;  and  it  is  better  to  have  the  thought  wrought  into 
the  mind  by  reflection — by  the  "  afterthought" — than  to 
have  it  never  so  well  classified  and  laid  away  in  a  book. 
At  all  events,  the  student  must,  in  some  way,  gather  up 
and  save  what  he  acquires  ;  and  there  can  be  no  extended 
investigation,  or  nothing  which  can  be  called  "  learning," 
without  this.  Dr.  Channing  studied  pen  in  hand,  filling 
the  book  he  was  reading  with  folded  sheets  of  paper,  on 
which  notes  were  rapidly  written,  "rarely  quotations, 
but  chiefly  questions  and  answers,  qualifications,  con- 
densed statements,  germs  of  interesting  views  ;  and  when 
the  volume  was  finished,  they  were  carefully  selected,  and, 
under  distinct  heads,  were  placed  among  other  papers  in 
a  secretary."  Sir  William  Hamilton  kept  a  huge  com- 
monplace book,  to  which  he  devoted  much  time  and  labor  ; 
he  was  excessively  accurate  and  fastidious  as  to  its  ar- 
rangement, having  a  perfect  passion  for  order.  He  ar- 
ranged his  materials  precisely  before  committing  them  to  a 
written  systematic  form  ;  then  there  was  a  most  minute 
and  elaborate  plan  of  division  and  subdivision.     He  early 


174  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

adopted  the  method  of  Locke,  classifying  by  a  vowel- 
index,  but  allowing  a  double  space  for  subdivision  of 
vowels,  and  he  had  the  volume  bound  with  catches  so  as 
to  admit  of  new  insertions.  This  grew  to  be  a  book  of 
twelve  hundred  pages,  and  this,  his  opiis  magnum^  was 
his  constant  companion.  He  had  still  another  mode  of 
reference  by  scoring  the  book  he  was  reading  with  signifi- 
cant marks  in  red  ink,  and.  sometimes  using  different 
colqred  inks.'  Any  process,  in  fact,  which  enables  one 
to  preserve  what  he  gains  by  reading  and  study  is  the 
chief  thing  ;  and  men  greatly  differ  in  their  mental 
habits.  One  may  write  down  a  passage  or  thought  of  an 
author,  and  then,  from  some  aversion  or  infirmity,  never 
look  at  the  writing  again  ;  while  another  man  cannot  re- 
member at  all,  without  going  through  some  such 
mechanical  process  of  transcription  and  revision.  Dr. 
Emmons's  plan,  to  fasten  the  idea  or  thought  in  one's 
mind  by  dwelling  upon  it  and  forgetting  the  words,  can 
at  least  injure  no  one.  A  strong  desire,  an  excitation 
and  intense  want  of  the  mind,  accompanied  by  a  deter- 
minate effort  of  the  will  to  make  the  thought  one's  own, 
is,  after  all,  the  best  way  to  impress  a  truth  on  the  mind. 
A  minister's  library  is  generally  the  index  of  his  scholarly 
progress,  though  not  always  so,  for  he  may  be  so 
cramped  in  means  as  not  to  be  able  to  surround  himself 
with  many  books,  or  he  may  pile  up  learned  books  with 
a  good  intention  to  possess  himself  of  their  contents, 
without  having  the  resolution  or  the  ability  to  do  so. 
George  Herbert  says,  "  The  country  parson's  library  is  a 
holy  life." 


'  "  Life  of  Sir  William  Hamilton,"  p.  338  seq. 


THE  PASTOR  ASA   MAN.  175 

Sec.  1 1 .  Moral  Culture. 

Much  that  publicly  surrounds  the  name  of  a  minister 
and  gives  to  it  the  halo  of  sanctity  belongs  to  the  ofifice 
more  than  to  the  man  ;  but  character  is  something 
essentially  personal,  belonging  to  a  man's  own  being,  and 
it  is  built  up  through  the  voluntary  working  of  the  ruling 
formative  moral  law,  whatever  it  may  be,  true  or  false,  in 
the  soul.  It  is  a  consistent  and  independent  habit  of 
mind  grounded  on  the  high  principles  of  Christian  honor 
and  duty.  It  is  the  development  of  the  inward  life,  or 
the  growth  of  a  subjective  principle,  which  is  strength- 
ened by  all  outward  means,  nutriment  and  free  activity. 
A  perfect  and  thoroughly  furnished  minister  is  not  made 
by  the  mere  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery  or 
by  installation  into  the  pastoral  ofifice  ;  but  the  product 
of  a  right  ministerial  character  is  a  gradual  process  and  is 
the  fruit  of  daily  habits  of  thought  and  action.  And  let 
me  mention  a  few  of  these  elements  of  self-culture  which 
enter  into  the  formation  of  a  true  and  noble  ministerial 
character. 

{ci)  The  cultivation  of  habits  of  active  goodness. 

A  man  may  heap  up  sacred  learning  but  if  he  fails  to 

make  a  practical  use  of  it  for  his  increase  in 

piety  and   for  the  good    of   others,    it    is   a 

goodness. 
talent  buried  ;  even  as  Melanchthon,  scholar 

as  he  was,  said,  -in  reference  to  his  theological  studies, 
*'  Ego  viiJii  conscius  sum,  mmgnani  aliani  ob  causam 
tractavisse  theologiain,  nisi  lit  me  ipsum  cmendarem.'' 
Legh  Richmond  afifirmed  that  he  gained  his  greatest 
wisdom  and  highest  lessons  in  piety  in  the  cottages 
of  the  poor  ;  and  in  like  manner  Dr.  Arnold  recom- 
mended prayer  and  visiting  the  poor  as  the  antidote  to 
decline  in  spirituality.  "  Exercise  thyself  [as  in  a 
gymnasium]  unto  godliness,"  was  the  apostolic  require- 


176  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ment  ;  and  Paul  summed  up  this  ministerial  quality  of 
practical  religion  with  the  injunctiony  "  Do  the  work  of 
an  evangelist  ;"  have  an  aggressive  and  missionary 
piety  which  has  its  root  in  a  deep  faith,  but  which  is 
piety  of  a  healthy  and  athletic  sort,  that  need  not  be  put 
under  a  glass  case,  and  that  can  bear  the  knocks  and 
strains  of  life.  The  unpractical  nature  of  preaching 
frequently  arises  from  the  fact  that  ministerial  piety  is  of 
a  scholastic  kind,  and  does  not  appeal  to  all  hearts  as 
something  common  and  genuine.  It  does  not  come 
down  to  what  is,  but  is  ever  dealing  with  what  should 
be  ;  it  does  not  grapple  with  the  awful  stupidity  and  sin 
of  men's  hearts,  and  does  not  go  forth  from  its  intel- 
lectual seclusion  to  study  the  broad  book  of  humanity, 
to  meet  and  mingle  with  all  kinds  of  characters  and  men. 
It  deals  with  the  abstract  and  metaphysical  man,  not  with 
Richard  Smith  the  merchant,  perhaps  the  bankrupt  ,  with 
Samuel  Romilly  the  hard-headed  lawyer  ;  or  with  Hans 
Sachs  the  shoemaker  and  the  laborious  father  of  a  patri- 
archal family.  To  do  this  personal  work  with  separate 
and  individual  souls  requires  often  a  strong  effort,  and 
a  conscious  return  to  the  personal  Source  of  all  strength  ; 
it  requires  the  awakening  of  the  Christian  sense  which 
places  things  in  their  just  relations  of  being,  and  makes 
scholarship  of  infinitely  less  value  than  that  "  faith  which 
worketh  by  love,"  and  which  strives  for  the  welfare  of 
humanity.  Character,  says  Novalis,  is  educated  will. 
This  is  the  t]  apErr)  of  the  New  Testament,  the  virile 
moral  quality  that  makes  the  minister  '*  able  to  endure 
hardness  as  a  good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ."  A  minister, 
it  cannot  be  denied,  has  many  temptations  to  become  a 
pietist,  or  a  sentimentalist,  or  an  ecclesiasticist,  in  re- 
ligion ;  but  let  him  keep  in  full  vigor  his  will  to  do  good, 
his  moral  manhood  ;  let  him  "  add  to  his  faith  virtue," 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  177 

or  that  energic  quality  which  enables  faith  to  cany  out 
its  good  and  high  inspirations,  which  concentrates  and 
sanctifies  all  the  powers  of  the  being  in  the  fulfilling  of 
one  high  purpose.  Thus  a  minister  should  become  more 
than  a  man  of  words,  more  than  a  talker,  more  than  a 
holy  and  valorous  man  in  the  pulpit  ;  for  how  often  it  is 
that  one  thinks  he  is  a  leader  in  all  goodness,  that  he  is 
doing  great  things  for  Christ,  when,  after  all,  he  is  but  / 
talking  or  dreaming  about  doing  them.  He  who  is  con- 
stantly preaching  is  too  apt  to  think  that  talking  is  doing, 
that  words  are  deeds  ;  and  in  truth  they  may  be  some- 
times, but  they  may  be  often  a  miserable  substitute  for 
practical  good  activity  ;  and  to  pen  high  thoughts  in  a 
comfortable  study  is  a  thing  very  different  from  "  going 
about  doing  good  "  with  the  self-sacrificing  spirit  of 
Christ. 

{b)  The  cultivation  of  the  principle  of  self-denial.     The 
ministerial  quality  of  ffojcppoffvvt]  is  much  spoken  of  by 

the  apostle  ;  hard  to  translate,  but  it  conveys 

^  '  /      Self-denial. 

the  idea  of  that  mental  and  moral  soundness 

which  comes  from  the  principle  of  self-control,  from  a 
true  balance  of  the  mind  ;  it  suffers  no  faculty  or  desire  \ 
to  obtain  undue  prominence  and  influence,  and,  above 
all,  it  implies  the  conquest  of  the  fleshly  mind.  Paul 
says,  "  I  keep  my  body  under,  and  bring  it  into  subjec- 
tion, lest,  having  preached  to  others,  I  myself  should  be 
a  castaway. "  The  body  or  the  spirit  will  rule  ;  one  of 
them  must  be  subjugated  to  the  other  ;  and  even  after 
the  spiritual  victory  is  gained,  a  continual  watchfulness 
is  needed  to  preserve  that  which  is  gained  ;  and  in  all 
things  that  have  an  evil  tendency,  the  only  safe  rule  is 
to  resist  the  beginnings.  Purity  is  the  minister's  talis-  , 
man  by  which  he  walks  through  the  hosts  of  evil  and 
temptation,  and  "they  find  nothing  in  him."     Chaste- 


lyS  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 


ness  is  the  condition  of  masculine  power,  and  is  as  essen- 
tial as  modesty  in  the  woman,  which  is  saying  all  ;  its 
violation  even  in  thought — the  smirching  of  the  imagina- 
tion—  is  the  removal  of  the  crown  and  the  breaking  of  the 
staff  of  the  ministry.  Savonarola  was  wont  to  say  that 
he  who  grew  up  from  a  child  pure  and  irreproachable, 
when  he  became  a  man  could  hold  converse  with 
angels.  It  is  said  of  Bishop  Heber  that  he  would  not 
continue  to  read  anything  which  he  found  had  an  influ- 
ence to  demoralize  the  thoughts  ;  and  though  this  may 
indicate  a  consciousness  of  weakness,  it  shows  also  the 
extreme  watchfulness  which  this  good  servant  of  Jesus 
Christ  kept  over  himself  ;  and  even  the  Mohammedans 
have  a  proverb  that  it  is  a  sign  that  a  man  has  reached 
his  maturity  when  he  applies  all  his  powers  to  please  God 
and  no  longer  seeks  in  anything  the  gratification  of  his 
lower  nature. 

In  what  has  been  said  upon  this  subject  of  self-denial 
it  is  not  meant  that  the  body  should  be  neglected  or 
despised,  for  a  large  department  of  the  mental  nature, 
the  tastes,  sensibilities,  and  affections,  are  closely  allied 
to  the  physical  nature,  and  the  body  should  receive  a 
genial  and  generous  treatment  ;  it  should  be  kept  under, 
but  at  the  same  time  it  should  be  kept  healthy,  strong, 
and  serviceable  ;  it  should  not  be  starved  by  asceticism 
nor  enfeebled  by  an  injudicious  system  of  labor.  Depend 
upon  it,  good  health,  and  even  the  expression  of  a  sound 
physical  organism,  and  of  a  happy  spirit,  in  the  strength 
and  beauty  of  the  outward  appearance,  are  moral  powers 
in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The  nervous  and  preter- 
natural excitement,  the  total  tyranny  of  the  mind  over 
the  body,  which  characterized  the  life  of  F.  W.  Robert- 
son, was  doubtless  one  of  the  causes  of  the  sadness  of  his 
life  and  of  its  premature  ending.     The  beginnings  of  his 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  179 

ministerial  life  were  marked  by  bodily  austerity,  which 
wore  him  out  soon  and  obstructed  the  development  of  a 
natural,  genial,  cheerful  piety.  This  was  changed  and 
lamented  over  afterward,  when  it  was  too  late,  and  when 
he  had  exhausted  himself  by  his  system  of  mental  self- 
inspection  and  of  bodily  asceticism. 

The  principle  of  self-denial  is  the  foundation  of  all 
Christian  nobleness  and  power.  When  the  people  once 
clearly  perceive  that  there  is  in  their  minister  that  spirit 
which  can  and  will  give  up  all  things,  even  life  itself, 
for  the  gospel's  sake,  although  he  may  not  be  called 
upon  to  do  this,  except  in  the  exercise  of  that  daily 
cross-bearing  which  the  Master  enjoins,  he  becomes  their 
strong  tower  ;  for  he  who  yields  his  own  will  and  enters 
into  God's  will  has  found  the  eternal  source  of  strength. 
One  little  act  of  self-sacrifice  on  the  part  of  a  pastor 
will  gain  for  him  far  too  great  praise  from  his  people  ; 
and  the  danger  is  that  he  may  repeat  the  act  merely  for 
the  sake  of  the  praise  and  the  power  it  brings  him. 

{c)  The   cultivation  of    steadiness  of  character.     This 

does  not  mean  a  repression,  or  an  ironing  down  of  the 

spontaneousness   of    the    nature,  which  pro- 

Steadiness 
duces  an  artificial   rigidness  ;  but  a  restraint 

put  upon  false  and  hasty  impulses,  or  a  habit  of  acting 

from    principle    rather     than    from    sheer    impulse.     A 

stability   of    spirit  which    is  not  easily  thrown     off  its 

balance,  a  control  of  the  emotions  without  an  unnatural 

restraining  of   them,  a  repose  and   solidity  of  character 

which  are  above  the  reach  of  ordinary   excitement,  and 

above  the  show  of  petty  resentment  at  petty  insults — 

these,  doubtless,  enter  into  the  apostolic  conception  of 

"gravity."     There  should   be  something  of  the   "rock 

Peter"   in  the  minister  of  Christ — a  calm    strength,  on 

which  others  can  lean.     He  should  strive  to  be  the  same 


I  So  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

man  at  all  times,  for  he  who  is  set  to  govern  the  Church 
of  God  must  first  learn  to  govern  himself.  "  The  Chris- 
tian minister  should  not  be  found  frequently  changing 
his  plans  and  playing  experiments  in  his  parish,  taking 
up  a  cause  with  warmth  to-day,  and  then  abandoning  it 
to-morrow  ;  but  there  should  be  a  consistent  regularity, 
a  calm  uniformity,  in  his  bearing.  This  will  inspire  con- 
fidence, and  make  men  feel  that  he  is  one  on  whom  they 
can  reckon."  ' 

This  gravity  should  not  become  an  artificial  solemnity. 
A  sense  of  humor  is  a  great  blessing,  and  forms  a  safety- 
valve  to  the  strain  and  pressure  of  ministerial  life.  To 
take  cares  and  vexations  as  they  come  with  an  easy  and 
merry  spirit,  letting  them  fall  as  it  were  on  the  genial 
side  of  the  mind,  which  has  elasticity  as  well  as  sympathy, 
is  like  a  wagon  with  good  springs,  well  oiled,  that  gets 
over  the  ground  without  much  jolting.  Quaint  Thomas 
Fuller  says  of  the  minister,  that  he  should  not  be  "  too 
austere  and  retired,  which  is  laid  to  the  charge  of  good 
Mr.  Hooper,  the  martyr,  that  his  rigidness  frightened  the 
people  from  consulting  with  him.  '  Let  your  light,'  saith 
Christ,  '  shine  before  men  ;  '  whereas  over-reservedness 
makes  the  brightest  virtue  burn  dim.  Especially  he 
detesteth  affected  gravity  (which  is  rather  on  men  than 
in  them),  whereby  some  belie  their  register-book,  ante- 
date their  age  to  seem  far  older  than  they  are,  and  plait 
and  set  their  brows  in  an  affected  sadness."  There 
should  be  in  the  minister  of  Christ  the  simple  dignity  of 
one  who  stands  upon  and  proclaims  eternal  truth,  who 
by  his  very  looks  teaches  truth,  trust,  a  serene  and  divine 
elevation  of  purpose.  We  sometimes  see  an  affected 
gravity  put  on  by  young  ministers  in  society — something 

'  Oxenden. 


THE  PASTOR  ASA   MAN.  iSr 

that  does  not  belong  to  their  age.  In  travelling,  a  young 
clerg}'man  who  maintains  a  severe  countenance,  retires  to 
the  solitude  of  his  apartment,  emerging  only  at  meal- 
times, or  stated  times,  and  seems  to  have  no  interest  in 
or  sympathy  with  any  one — not  even  children — perhaps 
too,  in  the  summer  time,  or  in  a  period  of  vacation  and 
relaxation — copies  after  a  false  model  of  ministerial  man- , 
ners,  and  destroys  the  influence  for  good  which  he  might 
lawfully  and  innocently  exert  ;  but  even  this  is  far  better 
'  than  too  great  laxity,  flippancy,  triviality  and  unbridled 
jocularity  of  behavior.  The  best  way  is  to  be  perfectly 
natural  and  manly,  and  put  on  nothing  artificial — not  even 
a  pre-Raphaelite  angelicalness  of  aspect  while  yet  in  the 
flesh. 

(^)  The  cultivation  of  a  cheerful  spirit.      "  How  beau- 
tiful," says  Sydney  Smith,  "  to  see  the  good  man  bear- 
ing- the  mantle  of  piety  over  the  dress  of  daily 
,  ^  „  \  ,  ^    Cheerfulness, 

life — walkmg  gayly  among  men,  the  secret 

servant  of  God."  He  who  is  to  be  the  sustainer  and 
consoler  of  others,  who  stands  as  the  representative  of 
the  divine  Comforter,  should  show  that  there  are  good 
cheer  and  peace  in  his  own  heart  ;  for  if  one  falls  into  a 
desponding  mood,  and  supposes  that  his  preaching  does 
no  good,  or  that  his  presence  is  distasteful  to  his  people, 
or  that  he  is  unfitted  for  the  work  of  the  ministry — this  is 
just  the  opposite  of  that  spirit  "  of  power,  of  love,  of  a 
sound  mind  "  which  the  apostle  sets  forth  and  enjoins. 
A  pastor  should  be  accessible  and  sociable,  and  should 
not  lose  his  relish  for  those  pleasures  and  enjoyments  that 
promote  kindly  wit  and  cheerfulness.  He  should  not  for- 
get how  to  laugh  ;  and  it  is  wonderful  how  a  good  hearty 
laugh  dissipates  spleen,  and  makes  the  blood  circulate 
healthily,  while  an  unsmiling  and  over-anxious  minister 
wearies  his  people,  as  if  they  had  a  spectre  always  before 


l82  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

them.  One  should  feel  earnestly  his  responsibilities,  and 
not  have  a  superficial  light-heartedness  amid  great  duties 
^  and  cares  ;  but  he  should  strive  to  roll  off  his  cares  upon 
God,  and  maintain  a  bright,  cheerful  spirit  ;  and  since 
cheerfulness  commonly  springs  from  love,  love  can  do  and 
say  things  that  power,  and  even  reason,  cannot.  It  is  a 
great  thing,  too,  for  a  pastor  to  establish  a  hopeful  and 
cheerful  type  of  piety  among  his  people  :  this  will  con- 
tribute to  the  healthy  growth  of  the  church,  and  will  keep 
out  a  sickly  and  sorrowful  style  of  religion,  which  never 
flourished  in  the  strong  soil  of  the  primitive  Church. 
The  minister  who  does  this  shall  realize  in  his  widely 
protecting  and  joy-giving  life  the  pleasant  words  of  the 
prophet  :  "  His  branches  shall  spread,  and  his  beauty 
shall  be  as  the  olive-tree  .  .  .  they  that  dwell  under  his 
shadow  shall  return  ;  they  shall  revive  as  the  corn,  and 
grow  as  the  vine  :  the  scent  thereof  shall  be  as  the  wine 
of  Lebanon." 

{e)  The  cultivation  of  the  qualities  of    prudence   and 
patience.     Prudence  is  nearly    equivalent    to    what    is 

frequently  alluded    to   in    the    New    Testa- 
Prudence  and  ^  <<•!       ..<!  •  1.        1 
ment  as       wisdom   —     warning  and  teach- 
patience.                                                ^                   .             , , 

ing     every   man     in    all    wisdom" —  "  wise 

to  win  souls"  —  and  is  a  divine  and  comprehensive 
grace,  that  leads  into  all  wise  action  as  well  as  wise 
speech.  It  is,  as  Dr.  Johnson  says,  "  wisdom  ap- 
plied to  practice."  Prudence,  in  some  respects,  is 
another  word  for  tact,  or  a  knowledge  of  human  nature, 
which,  surely,  they  who  are  to  be  fishers  of  men  should 
possess — a  sagacious  insight  into  character  and  motives, 
without  cunning,  which  is  sagacity  springing  from  insin- 
cerity, and  whose  end  is  to  deceive.  Prudence  often 
holds  in  reserve  one's  act  or  opinion,  and  does  not  the 
foolish  thing,  but  does  the  wise  thing,  for  "  the  ministry 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  183 

must  not  be  blamed."  It  is  not  apt  to  seize  upon  every 
new  thing  in  philosophy  and  morals,  and  every  new- 
scheme  of  reform  that  offers  itself,  simply  because  it  is 
new  ;  it  does  not  subscribe  to  every  plausible  but  shallow 
project,  and  thus  help  often  to  deceive  and  cheat  the 
community. 

This  prudence  should  not  run  into  over-cautiousness, 
for  there  should  always  be  more  of  the  lion  than  the  fox 
in  the  Christian  minister  ;  in  truth,  almost  anything  in 
the  way  of  rashness  is  preferable  to  a  managing  minister, 
for  he  generally  manages  to  get  himself  distrusted  and 
despised.  The  quality  of  patience  was  the  crowning 
quality  of  our  Saviour's  character,  and  we  should  pray 
to  be  "  led  into  the  patience  of  Christ."  How  patient 
was  the  Redeemer  in  the  face  of  his  bitterest  foes,  and 
how  calm  amid  the  incessant  labors  and  difficulties  of 
his  earthly  life  !  "He  came  into  the  world  and  left  it 
without  pomp."  He  demonstrated  the  divine  within 
him  by  his  gentleness  in  working,  as  God  does,  more  by 
the  sunshine  than  by  the  storm.  Paul,  in  2  Tim.  3  :  24, 
says  that  the  servant  of  Christ  must  be  "  patient" 
(aveSiKajiov)^  enduring,  or,  literally,  bearing  up  under, 
evil.  The  want  of  immediate  success  in  his  best  plans, 
the  unconquerable  apathy  or  obstinacy  of  church  mem- 
bers, careless  and  disparaging  remarks,  schemes  of  in- 
triguing and  mischievous  men,  the  desertion  of  supposed 
friends,  the  trials  arising  from  his  own  negligences,  im- 
perfections, and  sins,  and  especially  the  unawakened  con- 
dition of  the  impenitent  of  his  congregation— these  are 
painful  ordeals  of  patience.  There  should,  therefore,  be 
infinitely  more  in  a  pastor's  spiritual  life  than  appears  in 
his  outward  life — an  interior  depth  of  union  with  God, 
which  no  event  can  destroy  or  disturb.  This  inward 
purity  and  strength  of  soul  form  a  coil  within  him  of  im- 


i84  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

measurable  rebound.  It  is  this  which  gives  his  word  a 
penetrating  force,  driving  it  home  to  the  heart  and  con- 
science. This  reserved  power,  this  patient  strength,  hid 
in  God,  and  called  forth  only  in  time  of  real  trial,  prove 
a  man  to  be  of  the  stuff  that  a  minister  of  Christ  should 
be  made  of.     He  is  a  man  who  cannot  be  conquered. 

Patience  allies  itself  to  meekness  ;  and  we  would  hardly 
mention  humility  as  a  separate  quality,  be- 

Humility.  cause  it  enters  into  all  the  other  Christian 
graces,  and  is,  as  it  were,  a  common  soil  in 
which  they  are  planted  and  grow.  Christ  taught  his  twelve 
disciples  the  lesson  of  humility  by  setting  a  little  child 
in  the  midst  of  angry  men  disputing  among  themselves 
as  to  who  of  them  should  be  greatest,  saying  to  them, 
"  Except  ye  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children, 
ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven" — 
these  guides  Into  that  spiritual  kingdom  were  them- 
selves to  be  of  childlike  spirit,  ready  to  receive  joyfully 
all  that  God  had  to  give  them,  and  to  impart  what  He 
gave  them  to  the  poorest  and  vilest. 

"  Oh  humble  me  !  I  cannot  bide  the  joy 
That  in  my  Saviour's  presence  ever  flows  ; 
May  I  be  lowly,  lest  it  may  destroy 
The  peace  his  childlike  spirit  ever  knows. 
I  would  not  speak  thy  Word,  but  by  Thee  stand, 
While  Thou  dost  to  thine  erring  children  speak  ; 
Oh  help  me  but  to  keep  his  own  command. 
And  in  my  strength  to  feel  me  ever  weak  ; 
Then  in  thy  presence  shall  I  humbly  stay, 
Nor  lose  the  life  of  love  He  came  to  give  ; 
And  find  at  last  the  life,  the  truth,  the  way 
To  where  with  Him  thy  blessed  servants  live  ; 
And  walk  forever  in  the  path  of  truth — 
A  servant  yet  a  son  ;  a  sire  and  yet  a  youth."  ' 

^  Jones  Very. 


THE  PASTOR  AS  A    MAN.  1 85 

(/)  The  cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  kindness.     Vinet  says 

of  the  minister,  "  He  is  among  men  the  rep-     „.   , 

°  ^        Kindness, 

resentation  of  a  thought  of  divine  mercy,  and 

he  represents  it  by  making  it  incarnate  in  his  own  hfe. 
To  succor-is  the  minister's  life."  How  much  power  there 
is  even  in  a  kind  manner  !  It  is  like  the  sun  in  spring  on 
the  snow  and  ice  of  men's  hearts.  To  carry  a  kind  and 
gentle  aspect  toward  little  children,  old  people,  young 
men,  business  men,  poor  people,  mothers,  servants,  high 
and  low,  is  a  constant  mild  agency  promotive  of  ministerial 
influence  and  of  the  good  ends  it  is  aiming  at.  Paul  said 
to  the  Thessalonians,  "We  were  gentle  among  you: 
even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her  children,  so  being  affec- 
tionately desirous  of  you,  we  were  willing  to  have  im- 
parted unto  you,  not  the  gospel  of  God  only,  but  also 
our  own  souls,  because  ye  were  dear  unto  us." 

A  recent  French  Roman  Catholic  author,  who  seems  to 
write  with  a  true  evangelic  instinct  as  regards  the  pas- 
toral work,  remarks,  "  Men  must  be  much  loved  in 
order  that  they  may  be  well  instructed.  Whatever  they 
may  be,  be  they  ever  so  guilty,  or  indifferent,  or  un- 
grateful, or  however  deeply  sunk  in  crime,  before  all  andV 
above  all,  they  must  be  loved."  '  He  says  again,  "  The 
question  is  not  to  ascertain  what  they  are  worth,  but  to 
save  them,  such  as  they  are.  Our  age  is  a  great  prodigal 
son  ;  let  us  help  it  to  return  to  the  paternal  home.  Now 
is  the  time  to  recall  the  admirable  words  of  Fenelon — 
'  O  ye  pastors,  put  away  from  you  all  narrowness  of 
heart.  Enlarge,  enlarge  your  compassion.  You  know 
nothing  if  you  know  merely  how  to  command,  to  re- 
prove, to  correct,  to  expound  the  letter  of  the  law.  Be 
fathers — yet  that  is  not  enough — be  as  mothers. '  "  "     And 


"  The  Clergy  and  the  Pulpit."     MuUois,  p.  15.  -  Idem,  p.  17. 


l86  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

once  more  he  says,  "It  is  not  by  essays  of  reasoning, 
any  more  than  by  the  sword,  that  the  moral  world  is  to 
be  swayed.  A  little  knowledge,  much  sound  sense,  and 
much  more  heart — that  is  what  is  requisite  to  raise  the 
great  mass,  the  people,  and  to  cleanse  and  purify  them. 
To  be  able  to  reason  is  human,  very  human  ;  and  one 
who  is  a  man,  and  nothing  more,  may  possess  that  ability 
as  well  as  you,  perhaps  in  a  higher  degree.  But  to  lose, 
to  devote  one's  life,  to  sacrifice  self,  is  something  un- 
earthly, divine,  possessing  a  magic  power.  Self-devotion, 
moreover,  is  the  only  argument  against  which  human 
malevolence  can  find  no  answer."^  He  quotes  St. 
Augustine's  language  :  "  Love  first,  and  then  you  may  do 
what  you  choose." 


'  "The  Clergy  and  the  Pulpit."     Mullois,  p.  2g. 


PART  THIRD. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELA- 
TIONS TO  SOCIETY. 


Sec.  12.   Doviestic  Relations. 

The    pastor    in    his    family.       i    Tim.     3  :  1-5,    ''  A 

bishop,  then,  must   be  blameless,    the   husband    of    one 

wife,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  behavior,  given 

to  hospitality,   apt  to  teach  ;  not  given  to        ^  ^^^  °^ 
^  •>        ^  '='  in  his 

wine,  no  striker,  not  greedy  of  filthy  lucre,       family, 
but  patient,    not  a  brawler,    not   covetous  ; 
one  that   ruleth  well  his   own  house,   having  his  children 
in  subjection  with   all  gravity.     (For  if  a  man  know  not 
how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take   care  of  the 
Church  of  God  ?)" 

The  Roman  Catholic  author  from  whom  we  quoted  in 
the  last  lecture  remarks,  "Be  it  ours,  therefore,  to  love 
the  people.  Is  it  not  to  that  end  that  we  have  no 
family  ties  ?  Yes,  I  invoke  pity  for  the  people  ;  pity  for 
their  sufferings,  their  miseries,  their  prejudices,  their 
deplorable  subjection  to  popular  opinion,  their  ignorance, 
their  errors.  Let  us,  at  least,  try  to  do  them  good — to 
save  them.  Therein  lies  our  happiness  ;  we  shall  never 
have  any  other.  All  other  sources  are  closed  to  us  ;  there 
is  the    well-spring  of  the  most  delectable  joys.     Apart 


i88  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

from  charity,  what  remains  ?  Vanity,  unprofitableness, 
bitterness,  misery,  nothingness."  These  words,  though 
evidently  the  words  of  a  noble  man,  have  a  sad  tone,  as 
if  the  "  bitterness  and  nothingness"  had  been  experi- 
enced because  the  writer's  heart  had  been  closed,  by  the 
unscriptural  imposition  of  celibacy,  to  domestic  joys  and 
affections  ;  and  the  argument  itself  by  no  means  holds 
good,  that  because  a  man  has  no  wife  and  children  to 
love,  he  will  more  readily  love  the  people,  since  he  has 
nothing  else  to  love.  But  he  has  something  else  to  love  ; 
that  is,  himself,  or  a  phantom  of  the  church  which  he  has 
created,  and  which  is  another  name,  in  many  instances, 
for  a  sanctified  love  of  power,  an  ambition  to  embody  in 
himself  the  Church's  power.  He  who  happily  sustains 
the  married  relation  is  in  the  best  school  on  earth  to  learn 
unselfishness — the  unselfish  love  of  all.  He  is  drawn  out 
of  himself  ;  he  must  think  of  others  ;  he  cannot  be 
absorbed  in  his  own  plans  ;  his  best  affections  are  con- 
stantly moved  upon,  and  they  have  no  time  to  stagnate. 
In  the  passage  quoted  from  the  pastoral  Epistles,  the 
minister  is  looked  upon  in  his  family  relations,  and  every 
sentence  of  that  weighty  apostolic  counsel  might  be 
profitably  dwelt  upon. 

"  The  husband  of  one  wife."  A  minister's  wife  may, 
indeed,  make  or  mar  him  ;  for  if  she  is  not  with  him  in 
his  work,  she  will  be  potent  to  draw  him  away  from  his 
work.  She  may  be  thus  his  good  or  evil  angel,  for  she  is 
present  in  his  times  of  weakness  and  depression,  and  her 
influence  constantly  builds  up  or  undermines  the  strength 
of  his  zeal.  De  Tocqueville  has  a  striking  passage  upon 
a  wife's  influence  in  a  different  relation.  He  says,  "  I  do 
not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  women  give  to  every  nation 
a  moral  temperament  which  shows  itself  in  politics.  A 
hundred  times  have  I  seen  weak  men  show  real  public 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  189 

virtue  because  they  had  by  their  sides  women  who  sup- 
ported them,  not  by  advice  as  to  particulars,  but  by  forti- 
fying their  feelings  of  duty,  and  of  directing  their  ambi- 
tion. More  frequently,  I  must  confess,  I  have  observed 
the  domestic  influence  gradually  transforming  a  man 
naturally  generous,  noble,  and  unselfish,  into  a  cowardly, 
commonplace,  place-hunting  self-seeker,  thinking  of  pub- 
lic business  only  as  a  means  of  making  himself  com- 
fortable, and  this  simply  by  contact  with  a  well-conducted 
Avoman,  a  faithful  wife,  an  excellent  mother,  but  from 
^^•hose  mind  the  grand  notion  of  public  duty  was  entirely 
absent." 

The  sympathy  of  a  true  Christian  wife  to  a  minister  in 
his  work  is  something  more  than  common  friendship  ;  it 
is  the  loving  support  of  a  heart  true  to  the  divine  Master 
in  hours  of  human  suffering  and  trial — in  times  when  the 
spirit  of  a  strong  man  bows  itself,  and  when  there  is  no 
other  earthly  friend  to  whom  he  would  reveal  his  mental 
weakness  and  anguish.  Besides,  there  is  a  department 
in  the  Church  in  which  the  ministry  of  woman  is  indis- 
pensable, and  that  is,  in  religious  counsel  to  those  of  her 
own  sex.  Vinet  says  that  females  are  the  natural  con- 
fessors of  females.  Some  pastors'  wives  have  been 
"  deaconnesses"  in  the  scriptural  sense,  the  instrumen- 
talities of  bringing  numbers  of  their  own  sex  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Saviour. 

A  true  Christian  wife  can  also  aid  her  husband  in  his 
preaching  by  her  finer  perception  of  the  feminine  mind, 
and  by  the  suggestive  information  which  she  acquires  in 
friendly  conversation  with  others  ;  for  her  intuitions  of 
character  are  often  more  penetrating  and  true  than  his 
slower  judgments  ;  but  undoubtedly  the  first  duty  of  a 
pastor's  wife  is  to  her  own  family,  and  the  pastor  has  his 
responsibility  here  not  to  permit  the  parish  to  command 


190  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

too  much    of  her  time  and  strength.     This  is  a  sacred 
duty  that  he  owes  to  his  own  family, 

"  One  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house,"  There  should 
be  an  organic  law  of  every  house,  as  there  is  of  every 
government,  which  shapes  its  whole  theory  and  char- 
acter. A  minister  should  strive  to  make  his  own  house- 
hold subservient  to  the  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom. 
An  old  English  writer  says  that  "  a  family  is  a  small 
diocese,  in  which  the  first  essays  are  made  of  the  epis- 
copal and  ecclesiastical  zeal,  piety,  and  prudence."  The 
minister  should  endeavor  to  harmonize  his  family  with 
his  work,  and  not  to  dissociate  them  from  it  ;  for  they 
are  given  him  to  help  him  in  his  office  ;  and  his  family 
should  be  the  means  of  his  greater  influence  in  the  special 
duties  of  the  ministry,  and  thus  multiply  his  own  influ- 
ence. His  household  should  be  a  consecrated  house- 
hold. 

The  minister  should  rule  his  family,  as  God  rules  his 
family,  not  so  much  by  the  hand  of  absolute  authority 
(though  there  should  be  undisputed  authority  in  him  as 
its  earthly  head)  as  by  the  principles  of  a  just  moral 
government,  by  truth,  righteousness,  and  love.  The 
New  Testament  speaks  much  of  "  the  church  in  the 
house,"  and  there  should  be  a  little  church  in  every 
minister's  house,  in  which  the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  Son  of 
peace,  reigns  ;  in  which  there  is  an  orderly  system  in  the 
daily  life  that  enthrones  God  in  everything.  Family 
devotion,  as  Dr.  Bushnell  truly  says,  should  be  in  har- 
mony with  the  whole  religious  life  of  the  household,  and 
not  one  disconnected  act,  as  if  it  formed  all  the  religion 
and  religious  worship  of  the  house.  It  should  be  the 
manifestation  or  expression  of  a  common  and  constant 
spiritual  life,  and  of  a  home  piety  in  which  simplicity, 
cheerfulness,  the  spirit  of  obedient  activity,  and  the  spirit 


THE   PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  191 

of  love,  reign.  Ministers  are  sometimes  inclined  to  be 
too  loose  in  the  moral  government  of  their  families  ;  they 
excuse  themselves  on  the  plea  of  public  duties  ;  but  no 
man  should  neglect  his  own  for  others,  unless  he  would 
incur  the  stern  apostolic  reproof.  There  has  been  many 
a  modern  Eli  among  ministers,  whose  zeal  in  the  house 
of  God  could  not  prevent  the  ruin  of  their  own  families. 

"  Given  to  hospitality."  The  true  minister's  house,  in 
every  age  and  clime,  has  been  the  home  of  a  warm- 
hearted hospitality  and  of  an  efficient  benevolence.  It 
has  set  the  fashion  and  given  the  law  to  the  parish  in 
those  respects.  It  has  been  the  palace  of  the  poor. 
That  it  should  maintain  this  character,  and  be  still  more 
influential  in  the  promotion  of  the  people's  happiness,  let 
it  be  made  the  abode  of  an  attractive  good  taste,  and  of 
an  inexpensive  refinement.  Let  it  admit  into  it  the  in- 
fluence of  a  chastened  culture  and  art,  and,  above  all,  of 
the  harmonizing  power  of  music. 

Business  habits,  method  and  punctuality  in  all  matters 
of  daily  living,  also  increase  the  influence  of  the  minister,  * 
and  tell  upon  whatever  he  utters  in  the  pulpit.  This  is 
"the  mint,  anise,  and  cummin,"  Avhich  may  not  be 
neglected  while  he  is  preaching  "  the  weightier  matters 
of  the  law."  Above  all,  let  not  the  minister  become 
encumbered  with  debts.  Do  you  say,  How  can  he  help 
it?  We  answer.  He  must  help  it;  he  must  rather  do 
anything  that  is  honest  and  honorable  ;  for  when  once 
deeply  in  debt,  the  right  arm  of  his  usefulness — his  in- 
dependence— is  paralyzed  ;  he  cannot  say  what  he  will, 
nor  do  what  he  will  ;  but  he  is  another  man's  servant, 
and  he  cannot  lose  the  consciousness  of  it. 

Promptness  and  accuracy  in  relation  to  the  business  of 
the  church  form  a  means  of  influence  with  others,  and 
especially  with  business  men,  who  respect  the  executive 


192  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

talent  in  man  wherever  it  is  found  :  that  they  can  ap- 
preciate. A  minister  should  make  no  blunders  in  the 
management  of  church  business.  To  be  prompt  at 
church  meetings,  careful  to  attend  to  practical  engage- 
ments connected  with  the  management  of  church  affairs, 
or  of  any  outside  business, especially  of  a  pecuniary  nature 
— these  things  increase  one's  power  with  men,  for  they 
show  character,  they  betoken  moral  exactitude,  which 
confirms  the  teachings  of  a  higher  righteousness,  or  right- 
ness.  If  a  man  makes  an  error  in  these  least  things,  the 
people  will  infer,  both  scripturally  and  rationally,  that  he 
may  do  the  same  in  greater  things.  We  mention  these 
matters  as  belonging,  in  some  sense,  to  the  domestic 
character  of  a  man  ;  and  if  he  is  exact  in  these  things  at 
home,  he  will  be  apt  to  be  so  in  his  relations  to  the 
Church. 

There  is  one  point  in  this  subject  of  a  minister's  regu- 
lation of  his  own  household  which  is  of  profound  mo- 
ment :  that  is,  the  responsibility  of  the  minister  for  the 
spiritual  condition  of  his  family.  It  is  strange  that  we 
are  better  able  to  carry  out  the  precepts  of  a  Christian  life 
in  public,  and  toward  strangers,  than  we  often  are  in  our 
own  homes,  and  toward  those  we  love  best.  Why  is 
this?  Surely  a  minister,  of  all  men,  should  not  keep  his 
religious  graces  for  the  public,  and  hide  them  to  his  own 
family.  A  man  cannot  be  a  saint  in  the  pulpit,  and  a 
selfish,  irritable,  and  uncomfortable  person  in  private  life. 
He  may,  perhaps,  not  mean  to  be  so  ;  but  he  should 
watch  against  this  tendency  to  be  good  and  holy  oc- 
casionally and  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  not  so  at 
home  and  at  all  times.  A  minister  not  infrequently,  we 
believe,  feels  smitten  with  the  conviction  (especially  after 
preaching  in  a  strange  place)  that  he  has  exhausted  his 
powers  in  efforts  and  appeals  to  bring  souls  into  the  king- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO   SOCIETY.  193 

dom  of  heaven^ — persons  whom  he  will  probably  never 
meet  again  on  earth  ;  and  what  special,  skilled,  deter- 
mined effort  like  this  has  he  put  forth  to  save  the  souls 
of  his  own  family  ! 

A  minister's  family  is  subject,  in  a  marked  manner,  to 
public  scrutiny  and  criticism  ;  and  it  is  better  to  bear  this 
criticism  good-naturedly  than  to  be  troubled  by  it. 

While  asserting  his  independence  in  regard  to  these 
domestic  matters,  yet  the  pastor  may  not  forget  that  his 
family  is  looked  upon,  in  some  sense,  as  a  model  family. 
That  should  not  only  stimulate  him  to  be  simple  and 
prudent  in  his  domestic  matters,  to  avoid  extravagance 
in  all  things,  and  to  shun  the  appearance  of  evil,  but  to 
use  this  fact  as  a  means  of  good  to  others,  in  order  to 
elevate  his  people  in  intelligence,  good  taste,  social  feel- 
ing, and  benevolence.  Religion  in  his  home  should  be 
made  a  real  thing,  a  matter  of  daily  life,  it  should  soften 
the  feelings,  raise  the  moral  tone,  educate  the  will, 
liberalize  the  character,  and  fill  the  home  with  the  atmos- 
phere of  holy,  unselfish  love. 

Of  an  old  English  bishop's  house  (Bishop  Hooper,  the 
martyr)  it  is  said,  "  It  was  as  if  we  entered  some  church 
or  temple.  In  every  corner  thereof  there  was  some  smell 
of  virtue,  good  example,  honest  conversation,  and  read- 
ing of  holy  Scripture."  Of  another  it  is  recorded  that 
"as  he  walked  about  the  house,  he  would  make  some 
spiritual  use  of  everything  that  did  occur,  and  his  lips  did 
drop  like  the  honeycomb  to  all  that  were  about  him." 

The  author  of  the  "  Recreations  of  a  Country  Parson," 
after  speaking  of  his  being  hindered  in  preparing  a  ser- 
mon by  the  interruptions  of  a  little  child,  says,  "  My  ser- 
mon will  be  the  better  for  all  these  interruptions.  I  do 
not  mean  to  say  that  it  will  be  absolutely  good,  though 
it  will  be  as  good  as  I  can  make  it  ;  but  it  will  be  better 


194  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

than  it  would  have  been  if  I  had  not  been  interrupted  at 
all.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  meant  it  well,  but  it 
was  far  mistaken  when  it  thought  to  make  a  man  a  better 
parish  priest  by  cutting  him  off  from  domestic  ties,  and 
quite  emancipating  him  from  all  the  worries  of  domestic 
life.  That  might  be  the  way  to  get  men  who  would 
preach  an  unpractical  religion,  not  human  in  interest,  not 
able  to  comfort,  direct,  sustain  through  daily  cares,  temp- 
tations, and  sorrows.  But  for  the  preaching  which  will 
come  home  to  men's  business  and  bosoms,  which  will  not 
appear  to  ignore  those  things  which  must,  of  necessity, 
occupy  the  greatest  part  of  an  ordinary  mortal's  thoughts, 
commend  me  to  the  preacher  who  has  learned  by  experi- 
ence what  are  human  ties,  and  what  is  human  worry." 

Sec.  13.    The  Pastor  in  Society. 

Christianity  establishes  new  social  standards,  wherein, 

inasmuch  as  rank  and  wealth    have  heretofore    set  the 

standard,  now    righteousness    and   truth    do 

e  pas  or   ^^^.^^     Men  are  to  be  judged  mainly,  in  the 

in  society.  ... 

highest  type  of  Christian    society,  by  their 

moral  worth,  even  as  Christ  himself  should  no  longer 
be  known  after  the  flesh,  but  morally  and  spiritually. 
Human  society,  as  a  general  rule,  has  a  tendency  to 
strengthen  the  impulses  of  the  lower  nature,  to  produce 
habits  of  superficial  thinking  and  judging,  and  to  destroy 
individual  responsibility  and  nobility,  to  make  less  pro- 
found the  convictions  of  truth,  and  to  shallow  the  soul. 
While  outward  and  worldly  differences  of  social  position, 
many  of  them,  will  and  probably  must  continue  to  exist, 
yet  the  narrowing  and  debasing  tendency  of  human 
society  should  be  resisted,  and  nobler  currents  opened 
and  deepened. 

Christianity  favors  the  cultivation  of  the  social  prin- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO   SOCIETY.  195 

ciple  :  social  power  and  influence  is  a  great  talent  for 
good  in  any  man  ;  and  the  Christian  pastor,  above  all 
men,  cannot  withdraw  himself  from  the  world  ;  he  can- 
not be  exclusive  ;  for  he  has  devoted  himself  to  the  wel- 
fare of  his  fellow-men  and  to  the  salvation  of  the  world. 
Even  as  Christ  looked  on  the  multitudes  of  men,  and 
had  compassion  upon  them,  so,  wherever  men  are,  there, 
like  his  Master,  he  is,  to  do  them  good  ;  and  he  cannot 
shut  up  the  offer  of  the  gospel  and  the  hope  of  better 
things  to  any  man,  however  low,  obscure,  and  vile  ;  for 
did  not  Christ  attend  the  feast  of  one  who  was  a  publican 
and  a  sinner  ?  We  would,  then,  advise,  {a)  that  a 
minister  should  be  genuinely  social,  without  conforming 
to  the  worldly  spirit  in  society.  The  char- 
acter of  a  minister  should  combine  the  spirit       Social 

rr-ifi  /-I  -1         r-iri  without 

of  faithfulness  to  God  with    faithfulness  to         ,,,- 

worldliness. 

man  ;  he  should  not  fail  in  his  duties  to 
either.  There  may  be  two  opposite  errors  in  ministerial 
conduct  in  regard  to  society  :  a  minister  may  have  so 
strong  a  desire  to  separate  himself  from  worldly  things 
and  worldly  men  as  entirely  to  lose  the  social  spirit;  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  may  have  so  intense  a  desire  to 
smooth  the  way  for  good  influence  among  all  men,  and 
to  come  down  to  the  level  and  sympathy  of  all,  that  he 
may  not  only  thereby  lose  his  dignity,  but  may  com- 
promise his  principles  ;  and  he  may  unconsciously  adopt 
the  principles  of  the  world  and  of  the  evil  there  is  in 
society.  He  may  go  so  far  as  to  come  upon  the  ground 
of  doing  evil  that  good  may  come.  The  Saviour  said  of 
his  disciples,  "  They  are  not  of  the  world,  even  as  I  am 
not  of  the  world  ;"  yet  he  prayed  that  his  disciples 
should  not  be  taken  out  of  the  world,  but  kept  from  its 
evil.  The  middle  course  is  thus  the  true  one.  While  in 
the  world,  one  should  not  be  of  the  world  ;  but  he  should 


196  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

show  that  religion  is  a  principle  strong  enough  to  live  in 
the  world.  If  the  minister  surrenders  too  much,  and 
suffers  himself  to  be  governed  by  the  same  principles 
that  govern  the  world,  so  that  he  may  have  social  inter- 
course with  it,  he  gives  no  clear  testimony  to  the  divine 
spirit  of  his  Master,  neither  will  he  be  able,  by  this  means 
to  raise  society,  but  will  himself  be  dragged  down  by  it. 
Therefore  we  would  give  the  counsel,  {U)  that  while  the 
minister  should  exhibit  a    genuine    courtesy  to    all,    he 

should  have  special  attractions  for  the  society 
Courteous. 

and  friendship  of  the  true  servants  of  Christ. 

"  Be  courteous"  (i  Pet.  3  :  8),  literally,  be  friendly- 
minded.  Although  a  minister  should  observe  the  cus- 
toms of  polite  society,  and  may  have  friends  whom  he 
loves  among  the  decidedly  worldly  class,  yet  a  minister 
should  cultivate  no  society  where  he  is  forced  to  hide  his 
principles  or  his  sacred  office,  and  appear  to  be  v.hat  he 
is  not. 

Another  suggestion  is,  [c)  that,  though  not  a  man  of 

the  world,  a  minister  should  be,  wherever  he 
A  gentleman.  . 

IS,  a  man  of  refinement  and  a  gentleman. 

By  his  profession  and  education  it  is  demanded  of  him 
that  he  should  be  a  man  of  refinement.  While  he  should 
exhibit  manly  independence  of  character,  it  is  expected 
also  of  him  that  he  should  possess  delicacy  of  mind. 
Anything  vulgar  in  a  minister,  even  if  his  manners 
otherwise  are  of  the  plainest  and  simplest  character,  is 
inexpressibly  out  of  place.  John  Wesley,  plain  and 
severe  as  we  picture  him,  insisted  upon  the  highest  style 
of  manners  as  necessary  in  the  ministerial  office — "  all 
the  courtesy  of  the  gentleman,  joined  with  the  correct- 
ness of  the  scholar."  "St.  Paul,"  he  said,  "showed 
himself  before  Felix,  Festus,  and  Agrippa,  one  of  the 
best  bred   men,   one  of    the  truest  gentlemen,     in    the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  197 

world."  Paul  was,  indeed,  if  we  could  use  such  a  com- 
parison, as  truly  a  gentleman  as  Sir  Philip  Sidney. 
What  a  fine  regard  to  the  feelings  of  others  he  showed 
when,  contrar)^  to  his  own  best  judgment,  he  took  the 
two  Jewish  Christians  to  the  temple  to  perform  their  • 
Nazarite  vows  ! 

Ruskin  thus  discourses  :  "In  nothing  is  a  gentleman 
better  to  be  discerned  from  a  vulgar  person,  in  nothing  is 
a  gentle  nation  (such  nations  have  been)  better  to  be  dis- 
cerned from  a  mob  than  in  this  :  that  their  feelings  are 
constant  and  just  results  of  due  contemplation,  and  of 
equal  thought.  You  can  talk  a  mob  into  anything.  Its 
feelings  may  be — usually  are — on  the  whole,  glorious  and 
right  ;  but  it  has  no  foundation  for  them,  no  hold  of 
them.  You  may  tease  or  tickle  it  into  any  mood  at  your 
pleasure.  It  thinks  by  infection,  for  the  most  part  catch- 
ing a  passion  like  a  cold  ;  and  there  is  nothing  so  little 
that  it  will  not  roar  itself  wild  about  when  the  fit  is  on, 
nothing  so  great  but  it  will  forget  in  one  hour  when  the 
fit  is  passed.  But  a  gentleman's,  or  a  gentle  nation's 
passions  are  just,  measured,  and  continuous."  Dr.  Bar- 
row, in  analyzing  the  character  of  a  gentleman,  makes  it 
to  consist  chiefly  of  two  qualities — courage  and  courtesy  ; 
the  first  not  consisting  "  in  high  looks  or  big  words,  but 
in  stout  and  gallant  deeds,"  and  the  latter  "  not  in 
modish  forms  of  address,  or  complimental  expressions,  or 
hollow  professions,  commonly  void  of  meaning  or  sincer- 
ity ;  but  in  real  performances  of  beneficence,  when  occa- 
sion doth  invite,  and  in  waiting  for  opportunities  to  do 
good."  President  Theodore  Woolsey,  of  Yale  College, 
in  commenting  upon  Barrow's  sermon,  has  given  his  own 
conception  of  a  gentleman,  making  it  to  consist  not  only 
thus  in  calmness  of  mind  and  true  courage,  but  in  certain 
ethical  and  aesthetic  qualities,  chiefly  having  to  do  with 


198  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  laws  of  honorable  conduct.  In  an  abridged  form  his 
definition  is,  "  the  gentleman  is  the  man  who  closely 
conforms  to  the  laws  of  honor  and  politeness,  and  to  the 
law  of  the  beautiful,  as  far  as  it  can  be  carried  out  in 
personal  acts."  The  essay  ends  in  these  words  :  "It  is 
a  lamentable  fact  that  some  men,  who  have  made  no  pre- 
tensions to  a  religious  character  and  neglect  their  duty 
toward  God,  are  gentler,  more  forbearing,  polite,  and 
courteous  in  social  life,  than  some  men  of  undoubted 
piety.  Why  is  this  ?  It  may  be  for  the  same  reason 
that  a  clergyman  who  dabbles  in  commercial  matters 
will  do  things  at  which  honest  merchants  would  hesitate. 
They  are  in  the  habit  of  examining  questions  belonging 
to  mercantile  honesty,  and  he  is  not.  And  so  a  man  who 
has  learned  that  the  gentlemanly  character  involves  gen- 
tleness and  forbearance,  being  desirous  of  the  character 
or  the  reputation  of  it,  will  put  a  force  upon  himself,  and 
become  habituated  to  those  qualities,  or  at  least  to  the 
show  of  them,  without  having  yet  attained  to  true 
fundamental  virtue.  Thus  we  see  that  by  familiarity 
with  the  duties  to  society  involved  in  the  term  gentle- 
man, one  man  of  no  very  exalted  virtue  will  have  a  great 
advantage  over  another  of  the  best  disposition  who  has 
overlooked  them.  It  seems  to  us,  when  the  amount  of 
influence  and  happiness  lost  by  this  neglect  is  considered, 
that  it  is  wholly  inexcusable.  Indeed,  we  know  not 
what  can  excuse  a  Christian,  the  servant  of  the  gentlest, 
kindest,  justest  Master,  from  being  a  gentleman,  unless  a 
natural  want  of  delicacy  of  feeling,  which  it  is  beyond 
his  power  to  alter.  With  no  such  defect  he  ought  to  be 
the  more  successful  in  rearing  the  flowers  of  gentlemanly 
intercourse,  for  they  have  with  him  a  better  root.  And 
he  cannot  fail  of  being  more  successful,  if  he  will  form  a 
clear  notion  of  this  term  in  its  highest  import,  and  feel 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  199 

that  it  may  help  him  in  practice  to  have  such  a  standard 
before  his  eyes.  There  is  every  need  that  a  Christian 
should  be  a  gentleman,  a  man  of  gentle  soul  and  man- 
ners, of  the  nicest  justice,  of  simplicity  in  character  and 
taste,  of  a  collected  spirit  ;  there  is  ordinarily  no  reason 
why  he  should  not  be  one."  ' 

The  nice  observance  of  the  golden  rule — the  giving  to 
each  one  what  fairly  belongs  to  him — the  rendering  of 
simple  justice  to  every  man  out  of  a  kind  heart,  seems  to 
us  to  constitute  the  essence  of  a  gentleman.  A  gentle- 
man cannot  do  a  mean  thing. 

The  manners  of  Fenelon,  so  powerful  for  good  with  his 
age,  are  thus  described  by  Lamartine  in  his  "  Life  of 
Fenelon"  :  "  Drawn  toward  all  by  his  love,  he  drew  all  in 
turn  to  himself.  The  universal  regard  which  he  met  with 
was  but  the  rebound  of  that  affection  he  displayed  toward 
his  fellow-creatures.  This  desire  to  please  was  no 
artifice  ;  it  was  a  spontaneous  emotion.  He  did  not,  like 
the  ambitious,  exert  it  only  when  interest  beckoned 
toward  those  who,  by  their  friendship,  could  aid  his 
advancement  or  his  schemes  ;  it  extended  to  all." 
"  Equally  anxious,"  said  St.  Simon,  "  to  delight  his 
superiors,  his  equals,  and  his  inferiors,  in  this  desire  of 
reciprocal  love,  he  recognized  no  distinctions  of  great  or 
small,  high  or  low  ;  he  sought  only  to  conquer  hearts 
with  his  own  ;  he  neglected  none,  and  noticed  even  the 
humblest  domestics  of  the  palace.  His  politeness  never 
seemed  an  attention  to  all,  but  a  peculiar  notice  bestowed 
on  each  ;  it  imparted  its  own  character  to  his  genius. 
He  never  sought  to  dazzle  by  display  those  who  might 
have  felt  obscured  or  humiliated  under  the  ascendency  of 
his  talents."     The  good  manners  of  Fenelon  were  indeed 


'  New  Englander,  1847,  p.  4S1  seq. 


20O  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

a  Christian  grace,  the  refinement  of  a  pure  heart,  the  ex- 
pression of  a  loving  and  Christ-like  spirit.  It  is  true  that 
he  studied  to  please  ;  but  there  was  nothing  servile  in  the 
character  of  Fenelon  ;  he  showed  himself  at  times  an 
obstinately  independent  man. 

Ministers  who  are  not  of  this  Pauline  and  Fenelon 
type  sometimes  assume  pompous  and  self-important 
manners  ;  sometimes  soft  and  overstrained  manners  ; 
sometimes  unnatural  reserve  and  cold  dignity  of  bearing  ; 
and  sometimes  brusque,  harsh,  imperious  manners,  which 
are  all  equally  contemptible,  and  false  types  of  the  gentle- 
man. We  say  sometimes  of  a  man  who  has  had  little 
opportunity,  perhaps,  to  know  better,  "  He  does  not 
possess  the  first  instincts  of  a  gentleman" — lamentable 
that  this  should  ever  be  said  of  a  Christian  minister  ! 
The  true  gentleman  acts  sincerely  while  at  the  same  time 
he  makes  a  study  of  the  art  of  pleasing.  Dr.  Wayland's 
advice  to  a  young  friend  was,  "  Never  make  an  enemy." 
Perhaps  this  rule,  or  principle,  might  be  amended  by 
saying,  "  Never  make  an  enemy  except  where  truth 
demands  this  great  sacrifice."  An  old  English  writer 
says,  "  Manner  is  something  with  all,  and  everything 
with  some  ;"  therefore  even  manner  is  not  to  be  despised 
by  him  who  is  seeking  to  win  men.  The  gospel  is  good- 
will to  men,  and  its  minister  should  strive  in  small  as  well 
as  in  great  things  to  show  this  good-will  to  all  ;  and 
while  he  should  not  seek  to  excel  in  the  accomplishments 
of  the  dancing-master  he  should  take  pains  to  perfect 
himself  in  the  forms  of  good  society,  since  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  one  who  defiantly  commits  a  breach  of  etiquette 
can  have  little  power  with  well-bred  people.  A  man  may 
be  awkward,  stiff,  and  shy,  but  he  must  not  be  totally 
inattentive  to  the  feelings  of  others  if  he  means  to  do 
them  good.       The  three  points  of  clerical  good  manners 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATION'S    TO    SOCIETY.  20 1 

would  seem  to  be  dignity,  gentleness,  and  affability. 
Dignity  is  opposed  to  frivolousness,  or  a  constant  ten- 
dency to  unsteadiness  of  deportment,  not  to  real  cheer- 
fulness or  genial  humor.  It  leads  one  to  cultivate  a 
manly  self-comm.and,  which  never  permits  him  to  become 
a  mere  joker  or  buffoon  in  company.  It  prompts  one  to 
restrain  an  act  or  a  witticism  which  compromises  good 
feeling,  good  taste,  or  reverence  for  sacred  things.  It 
leaves  an  impress  of  dignified  repose  on  the  very  face 
and  carriage,  as  if  no  low  thing  or  mean  thing  could 
possibly  come  from  such  a  man.  It  is  a  Japanese 
proverb  that  "  The  gods  have  their  seat  on  the  brow  of  a 
just  man."  An  historian  speaks  of  "  the  divine  placidity 
of  Bishop  Butler's  countenance."  Nothing  indeed 
should  so  refine  a  man  as  a  constant  communion  with  the 
Bible  and  with  holy  things.  Charles  Kingsley  says, 
speaking  of  such  a  man  :  "  and  as  you  talk  with  him, 
you  will  be  surprised  more  and  more  at  his  knowledge, 
his  sense,  his  humor,  his  courtesy  ;  and  you  will  find  out 
— unless  you  have  found  it  out  before — that  a  man  may 
learn  from  his  Bible  to  be  a  more  thorough  gentleman 
than  if  he  had  been  brought  up  in  all  the  drawing-rooms 
of  London." 

Gentleness  is  the  avoiding  of  undue  harshness  and 
severity  in  what  one  does  and  says  ;  it  is  the  soft  answer 
that  turneth  away  wrath  ;  it  is  the  conciliating  mildness 
that  wins,  in  opposition  to  dogmatic,  positive,  passionate, 
and  overbearing  manner.  The  apostle  says  that  the  pas- 
tor must  be  "  gentle"  {i]Ttiov  eivai  npo?  Ttavrai)  ;  and  in 
this  way  he  may  instruct  those  that  oppose  themselves. 
This  gentleness  never  descends  into  an  unmanly  servility, 
but  by  its  unexacting  modesty  puts  others  at  ease,  and 
makes  social  intercourse  pleasant  and  free. 

Affability  is  the  opposite  of  an  unchristian  haughtiness. 


202  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pride,  and  superciliousness  ;  it  is  the  genial  warmth  that 
melts  all  it  comes  in  contact  with  ;  it  goes  out  of  the  way 
sometimes  to  conciliate  and  win  ;  it  is  attentive  to  every 
circumstance,  and  seeks  to  discover  those  particulars  in 
which  one  can  be  of  true  service  to  another  ;  it  would 
bear  and  lighten  another's  burdens  ;  it  is  the  touchstone 
of  influence  and  success  out  of  the  pulpit.  The  total  want 
of  this,  and,  on  the  contrary,  a  disagreeable  acerbity  of 
manner,  some  habit  perhaps  of  saying  censorious  things, 
is  often  the  whole  source  of  a  minister's  unpopularity  and 
failure. 

As  to  true  and  false  popularity,  Dr.  Chalmers  remarks  : 
"  The  only  popularity  worth  aspiring  after  is  a  peace- 
ful popularity,  the  popularity  of  the  heart — the  popu- 
larity that  is  won  in  the  bosom  of  families,  and  at  the 
side  of  death-beds.  There  is  another,  a  high  and  far- 
sounding  popularity  which  is  indeed  a  most  worthless 
article,  felt  by  all  who  have  it  most,  to  be  greatly  more 
oppressive  than  gratifying  ;  a  popularity  of  stare  and 
pressure  and  animal  heat,  and  a  whole  tribe  of  other 
annoyances  which  it  brings  around  the  person  of  its 
unfortunate  victim  ;  a  popularity  which  rifles  home  of  its 
sweets,  and  by  elevating  a  man  above  his  fellows,  places 
him  in  a  region  of  desolation,  where  the  intimacies  of 
human  fellowship  are  unfelt,  and  where  he  stands  a  con- 
spicuous mark  for  the  shafts  of  malice,  envy,  and  detrac- 
tion ;  a  popularitj^  which,  with  its  head  among  thorns  and 
its  feet  in  the  treacherous  quicksands,  has  nothing  to  lull 
the  agonies  of  its  tottering  existence  but  the  hosannas 
of  a  drivelling  generation."  It  has  been  significantly 
asked,  "  How  long  did  Paul's  popularity  last  at  Lystra  ? 
On  one  day  they  wished  to  worship  him,  and  on  the  next 
day  they  stoned  him.  *  Hosanna, '  one  day  ;' Crucify 
him,'  the  next." 


THE   PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  203 

We  would  offer,   as  another  suggestion,   id )  that,   in 
regard  to  social  amusements,  a  minister  should  exercise 
care  to  be,  if  possible,   in  no  place  or  situa- 
tion where  his  good  may  be  evil  spoken  of.        .  ^  ' 

°  ^  .  improper 

We  believe,  in  relation  to  this  subject,  as  to    amusements. 

all  others,  in  the  principle  of  the  most  per- 
fect Christian  liberty,  and  that  a  minister  has  as  much 
right  to  exercise  this  liberty  as  any  other  man  ;  but  there 
may  be  kinds  and  places  of  amusement  in  which,  if  he 
does  not  feel  that  he  himself  would  be  injured  by  fre- 
quenting them,  his  presence  would  seem  to  be  out  of 
place,  and  would  do  more  harm  than  good. 

In  regard  to  the  whole  subject  of  amusements,  how- 
ever, we  hesitate  not  to  say  that  the  world  is  to  be 
rationally  enjoyed  as  well  as  employed  for  moral  ends. 
The  world,  which  we  are  warned  in  the  Scriptures  to 
avoid,  is  not  the  natural  world,  the  beautiful  round  world 
which  sprang  forth  in  fresh  loveliness  at  the  word  of 
God,  and  which  He  pronounced  good  ;  nor  is  it  the  world 
of  those  natural  affections,  duties,  occupations,  cares, 
and  joys  into  which  we  are  born,  and  where  we  are  set  to 
do  life's  work,  but  that  moral  and  spiritual  world,  that 
deeper  realm  of  moral  life  and  action,  in  which  the  spirit 
of  evil,  the  spirit  that  denies  God,  reigns.  The  world, 
as  God  made  it,  is  given  to  us  generously  to  use,  if  in  the 
gift  we  forget  not  the  Giver. 

The  idea  of  enjoyment  should  not  be  thrust  altogether 
outside  of  the  Christian  category  ;  for  many  things  are  so 
directly  planned  to  be  enjoyed  that  one  might  say  it  were 
a  sin  not  to  enjoy  them.  He  who  hears  the  birds  sing  in  a 
spring  morning  without  pleasure,  or  looks  at  the  colors 
of  the  setting  sun  with  a  scowl,  or  who  has  no  more 
appreciation  of  the  grandeur  and  beauty  of  a  picturesque 
scene  in  which  he  may  be  placed,  than  the  ox  that  crops 


204  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  grass,  is  a  man  who  does  not  fall  into  harmony  with 
the  benevolent  and  genial  purpose  of  nature,  and  would 
hardly  be  happy  in  Eden  ;  whereas,  of  another, 

"  The  common  earth,  the  air,  the  skies 
To  him  are  opening  Paradise." 

Our  New  England  ancestors  had  so  serious  a  work  in 
life  that  they  did  not  admit  the  idea  of  play  ;  there  was 
more  excuse  for  them  ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  the  mind 
needs  the  play-element  for  its  highest  development  and 
achievement,  since  the  play-element  is  the  free  element, 
in  which  things  great  are  done. 

There  is  nothing  said  of  amusements,  for  or  against,  in 
the  Bible,  so  that  as  there  is  a  natural  principle  of  enjoy- 
ment belonging  to  the  constitutional  instincts  of  the 
mind,  which  demands  happiness  both  in  lower  and  higher 
departments  of  being,  amusements  should  be  recognized, 
and  regulated  accordingly.  Ministers  may  not  need 
them,  it  is  true,  as  much  as  their  people,  but  Christianity 
does  not  present  itself  as  a  religion  of  rules  of  conduct  so 
much  as  a  new  life,  a  higher  inspiration  and  ideal  of  life, 
a  religion  of  love,  and  the  free  and  willing  spirit  bound 
only  by  what  is  right  and  pure.  Purity  and  sobriety  are 
qualities  inseparable  from  the  character  of  the  children 
of  light,  and  the  spirit  of  these  qualities  must  enter  both 
into  a  Christian  man's  work  and  play.  The  Bible  does  not 
inveigh  against  any  particular  form  of  amusement,  not 
even  against  the  spectacular  shows  which  existed  in  its 
^  day  ;  for  the  apostle  Paul  evidently  had  seen  a  stadium 
race.  Amusements,  then,  arc  not,  per  sc,  sinful,  but  as 
an  ethical  question  they  enter  with  all  their  bearings  into 
human  life  and  conduct.  Let  us  accept  them  as  useful 
in  their  place,  and  fill  them  with  a  higher  spirit.  How, 
then,  can  the  principle  of  amusement,    implanted  in  all 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  205 

healthy  and  inartificial  natures,  be  carried  out,  so  that 
its  workings  shall  be  good  both  to  body  and  mind  ? — that 
is  really  the  question  which  it  is  well  for  Christian  pastors 
to  discuss  both  for  themselves  and  their  people.  Assured- 
ly a  great  deal  must  be  left  to  personal  freedom  and 
choice.  No  man  can  prescribe  for  another.  I  may  find  no 
pleasure  in  my  neighbor's  amusements,  nor  he  in  mine. 
I  do  not  enjoy  riding  on  a  boat's  deck  so  much  as  I  do 
riding  on  a  horse's  back.  Another  man,  who  loves  the 
wild  excitement  of  steering  a  scallop-shell  through  a 
rough  sea,  shrinks  from  a  mettlesome  horse  as  he  would 
from  a  crocodile.  Here  comes  along  a  meditative  saint, 
like  Jones  Very,  who  walks  in  the  realm  of  religious  ideas, 
and  no  lower  or  less  spiritual  form  of  pleasure  would  pre- 
sent the  slightest  attractions  to  him  ;  an  equally  pro- 
found or  perhaps  profounder  theologian  finds  his  recrea- 
tion in  a  box  of  carpenter's  tools,  or  in  going  into  the 
forest,  like  Mr.  Gladstone, and  hewing  down  a  sturdy  oak. 
Another  man  may  best  enjoy  the  fishing-rod  by  the 
side  of  the  tree-shadowed  brooks.  Some  space  and 
margin  must  be  left  to  Christian  men  and  brother  min- 
isters in  this  matter.  "  The  Church  is  not  armed  with 
authority  over  persons  and  private  families  and  their 
manners,  else  it  would  become  an  inquisition  and  an 
intolerable  tyranny."  If  some  amusements  may  be- 
come evil  from  their  abuse,  should  even  this  forbid  their 
use  ?  It  may  be  our  duty  to  take  a  stand  here  for  a 
matter  of  principle  and  for  liberty  of  conscience.  Rational 
amusements  in  the  family  circle,  not  always  of  an  en- 
tirely passive  or  intellectual  kind,  like  dancing,  or  games 
of  lively  sport,  may  prevent  young  persons  from  seek- 
ing the  excitement  of  a  decidedly  perilous  kind  ;  and,  as 
in  the  question  of  temperance,  a  preventive  that  cuts  off 
the   springs   of  vice  is  of    more  value  than  prohibition. 


2o6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

TertulHan  asserted  that  there  was  an  eternal  antagonism 
between  matter  and  spirit,  and  that  the  soul  was  unlaw- 
fully imprisoned  in  the  body  ;  and  here  was  the  root  of 
his  false  philosophy.  Manicheism,  like  Tertullian's,  is 
indeed  a  learned  name  to  be  applied  to  the  religious 
views  of  many  a  disciple  now,  who,  while  contending 
against  materialism,  exhibits  the  worst  sort  of  materialism 
in  decrying  the  physical  part  of  the  nature  that  God 
made,  as  the  seat  of  evil  and  sin,  whereas  Christ  said 
that  "  out  of  the  heart  proceed  evil  thoughts,  murders, 
\J  adulteries,  fornications,  thefts,  false  witness,  blas- 
phemies :  these  are  the  things  which  defile  a  man." 
/  But  while  anything — even  walking,  or  riding,  or  playing 
-  /  chess,  checkers,  and  dominoes,  or  pitching  quoits — when 
carried  to  excess  or  made  the  occasion  of  chance 
games  and  gambling,  may  be  injurious,  the  minister, 
who  should  preach  and  live  self-denial,  is  not  at  the  same 
time  called  upon  to  preach  and  live  asceticism.  He 
should  maintain  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  The 
day  of  haggard-eyed  anchorites  has  passed.  "  Holiness" 
and  "healthiness"  come  from  the  same  Saxon  root. 
Piety  and  paleness  are  no  longer  synonyms.  But  there 
are  proper  bounds  to  be  observed.  If  we  are  called 
upon  to  wear  out  the  body,  it  is  better  to  do  so  in  honest 
work  and  in  the  laborious  service  of  God  and  man  than 
in  the  fashionable  and  even  allowable  amusements  of  a 
pleasure-seeking  community.  While  the  minister  is  as 
free  as  any  other  Christian  man  to  rule  his  own  conduct, 
it  would  certainly,  we  think,  be  best  for  the  man  who  is 
appointed  to  guide  others  in  matters  of  duty  to  do 
nothing  in  wliich  he  cannol  carry  a  calm  conscience,  and 
to  engage  in  no  amusement  which  lets  down  the  vigorous 
tone  of  the  mind,  which  renders  it  less  fit  for  the  service 
of  that  Master,  who   was  himself  so    essentially   human 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  207 

that  he  demands  of  us  nothing  superhuman,  unnatural,  or 
unreasonable. 

There  are  amusements  which  are  wrong,  and  there  are 
those  which  are  not  in  themselves  wrong,  and  harm  has 
been  done  the  moral  nature  by  classing  all  amusements  in 
the  same  category  ;  but  leaving  out  even  debatable  amuse- 
ments, how  ample  a  field  for  delightful  recreation  is 
opened  in  the  genial  intercourse  of  friends,  in  encounters 
of  wit  without  malice,  in  the  varied,  grand,  and  lovely 
fields  of  nature,  in  the  line  and  the  rifle  (if  one  be  fond  of 
such  destructive  forms  of  happiness  and  can  make  them 
useful),  in  athletic  sports,  in  the  rich  domains  of  physical 
science,  literature,  music,  drawing,  painting,  and  the 
plastic  arts  !  The  grand  principle  to  guide  us  in  this 
whole  matter  is  that  amusements,  if  we  enter  into  them, 
should  be  of  a  kind  fitted  to  renew  mind  and  body  and 
prepare  them  for  manful  work,  for  a  healthier  moral 
purpose  in  all  our  activity.     Nature  does  this  above  all. 

"  Nature  never  did  betray 
The  heart  that  lov'd  her  :  'tis  her  privilege, 
Through  all   the  years  of  this  our  life,  to  lead 
From  joy  to  joy  ;  for  she  can  so  inform 
The  mind  that  is  within  us,  so  impress 
With  quietness  and  beauty,  and  so  feed 
With  lofty  thoughts,  that  neither  evil  tongues. 
Rash  judgments,  nor  the  sneers  of  selfish  men, 
Nor  greetings  where  no  kindness  is,  nor  all 
The  dreary  intercourse  of  daily  life, 
Shall  e'er  prevail  against  us,  or  disturb 
Our  cheerful  faith,  that  all  which  we  behold 
Is  full  of  blessing." 

If  we  cannot,  at  a  step,  eiitcr  the  primeval  forests  of 
California  and  see  the  ancient  but  evergreen  redwood  trees 
shooting  up  three  hundred  feet  as  straight  as  if  God  had 
let   down  a  plummet  from   the  sky,  and  forming  a  round 


2o8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

temple  vaster  than  Druid  ever  worshipped  In  ;  or  if  we 
cannot  stand  on  the  shore  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  stretching 
out  of  sight  like"  eternity,  and  watch  its  long  waves,  line 
after  line,  rolling  in  thunder  upon  the  headlands  and 
foaming  upon  the  beach  as  if  the  cup  of  unfathomable 
fulness  had  overflowed  its  rim,  yet  we  can  always  see  the 
blue  sky,  the  sun,  and  the  fields,  and  feel  "  a  sense  sub- 
lime of  something  far  more  deeply  interfused." 

Let  us  be  reasonable.  The  mind  demands  not  only 
variety  of  occupation,  but,  at  times,  complete  relaxa- 
tion ;  and  temptation  does  not  always  lie  in  the  careless 
mood,  but  also  in  the  thoughtful  mood  ;  envy,  ambition, 
professional  jealousy,  and  even  more  malignant  vices 
lurk  in  the  overstrained  and  incessantly  toiling  mind, 
where  the  gentler  virtues,  sympathies,  and  affections 
have  no  place  to  live  any  more  than  in  the  heart  of  an 
African  desert. 

We  would  therefore  venture  to  say,  by  way  of  sum- 
ming up  these  suggestions  (for  they  are  nothing  more)  in 
respect  to  the  subject  of  ministerial  amusements  : 

1.  Let  them  be  such  as  amiuse,  as  really  refresh  mind 
and  body — thoroughly  recrea'tive. 

2.  Let  them  be  such  as  do  not  demoralize  the  mind 
nor  unfit  for  spiritual  work. 

3.  Let  them  be  not  an  end,  but  a  means  of  life,  of 
truer,  manlier,  fuller,  richer,  and  more  serviceable  living. 

As  another  suggestion  on  this  general  topic  of  social 

relations,    we    would   remark,   {e)  that   it  is  well    for   the 

minister  to  strive  in  every  proper  way  to  cul- 

Cultivating   tivate  the  social  principle  among  his  people, 

trip  ^of  13.1 

•  •,.  •    i-u     and  in  the  community  where  he  lives.      The 
spirit  in  the  •' 

people.       fii'st  blow  of  Christianity  is  at  individual,  and 

the  second   at  social,  •  selfishness  ;  it   breaks 

up   an  unchristian  exclusiveness,  educates  and   sanctifies 


THE   PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  209 

the  social  nature,  draws  out  the  affections  and  widens 
the  sympathies  of  men.  What,  indeed,  is  the  use  of 
having  a  nature  that  can  love  our  brother,  if  we  never 
exercise  this  Jove,  nor  let  our  brother  know  that  we  love 
him  ?  The  pastor  may  become  the  means  of  making 
good  people,  whether  rich  or  poor,  cultivated  or  unedu- 
cated, better  known  to  each  other,  of  promoting  the 
neighborly  intercommunion  of  families,  and  of  fusing  his 
flock  together  in  pleasant  and  kindly  social  intercourse  ; 
and  we  cannot  exaggerate  the  power  of  social  influence 
for  good  or  for  evil,  since  society,  as  well  as  the  in- 
dividual, is  to  be  christianized.  The  Christian  Church, 
if  it  had  reached  its  ideal  state,  would  do  away  with 
many  of  the  artificial  lines  of  society  ;  would  present  a 
basis  of  union  where  all  classes  might  find  a  common 
bond  of  sympathy,  even  if  some  social  distinctions  arising 
from  the  superficial  differences  of  rank,  wealth,  and  edu- 
cation remained  ;  would  preclude  the  necessity  of  social 
organizations  outside  of  the  Church  —  philanthropic 
guilds,  reform  and  temperance  societies,  trades-unions, 
economical  brotherhoods,  and  the  like — because  it  would 
comprehend  these  in  its  own  bosom,  and  realize  them  in 
its  own  methods  of  working  out  the  principle  of  love. 

We  will  add  a  few  suggestions  which   come  naturally 
under  this  general  theme  of  social  culture. 

(/)  The  cultivation  of  the  power  of  pithy,  edifying  con- 
versation.    Conversational  ability  serves  to  bring  others  in 
communication  with  us,  and  to  win  their  con- 
fidence ;  for  if  one  can  talk  well  about  those  . 

conversation, 

things  that  interest  another  man — business, 
educational  matters,   politics — this  may  lead  the  way  to 
something  far  more  important.     A  minister,  in  his  social 
intercourse  with  his  people,  may  draw  out  their  minds, 
and  impart  to  them  quickening  knowledge  upon  all  sub- 


210  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

jects,  though  this  character  of  conversation,  which 
merely  imparts  information,  should  not  be  the  exclusive 
one.  We  call  to  mind  a  minister,  an  uncommonly  well- 
informed  man,  who  talked  admirably  on  every  imaginable 
subject  ;  and  though  he  at  first  won  the  hearts  of  his 
people  by  his  conversational  powers,  he  finally,  it  must 
be  said,  lost  them  in  the  same  way.  While  making  a 
pastoral  visit,  he  would,  for  instance,  take  down  a  glass 
ornament  from  the  mantel,  and  discourse,  during  his 
entire  visit,  and  in  a  very  instructive  manner,  on  the  art 
of  glass-making,  bringing  out  the  most  elaborate  informa- 
tion ;  or  he  would  take  up  a  book  from  the  centre-table, 
and  give  an  interesting  criticism — in  fact,  a  lecture — upon 
its  contents  and  its  author  ;  which  was  all  very  well  :  but 
by  and  by  his  people  began  to  inquire,  "  Is  our  pastor 
never  to  say  anything  to  us  upon  religious  subjects?" 
Whether  they  wished  him  to  do  so  or  not,  this  really 
marked  want  in  his  conversation  undermined  his  use- 
fulness. 

In  the  same  manner  an  anecdotal  (to  use  an  American- 
ism) minister  may  be  a  very  interesting  and  entertaining 
man  ;  yet  if  he  does  nothing  but  tell  good  stories  he  be- 
comes wearisome  ;  although  it  must  be  said  that  this  per- 
sonal and  dramatic  vein  in  conversation,  this  shrewd 
though  genial  appreciation  of  character,  this  pithiness  of 
illustration,  and  power  of  minute  detail,  is  an  admirable 
quality  in  conversation  ;  but  if,  in  addition  to  this,  or 
rather  above  and  beyond  this,  there  is  no  power  to  deal 
with  principles  and  ideas,  the  conversation  loses  its 
ennobling,  fructifying,  edifying  quality. 

We  have  spoken  of  Fenelon's  manners  :  his  biographer 
speaks  of  his  conversation.  He  says  of  it  :  "  Adapted  to 
the  man,  the  hour,  and  the  subject,  it  was  grave,  flexible, 
luminous,   sublime,    or   playful,    but   always   noble   and 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  211 

instructive.  In  his  most  unstudied  flights  there  was 
something  sweet,  kind,  and  winning.  None  could  leave, 
or  deprive  themselves  of  the  charm  of  his  society  with- 
out wishing  to  return  to  it  again.  His  conversation  left 
that  impression  on  the  soul  which  his  voice  left  on  the 
ear,  and  his  features  in  the  eyes — a  new,  powerful,  and 
indelible  stamp,  which  could  never  be  effaced,  either 
from  the  mind,  the  senses,  or  the  heart.  Some  men 
have  been  greater,  none  have  been  more  adapted  to 
humanity,  and  none  have  been  swayed  more  by  the  power 
of  the  affections." 

The  minister  should  cultivate  (^)  simplicity  of  manner. 
Again  let  us  return  to  Fenelon.     How  modest  was  his 

spirit  !     He    said,    "  Those    who    are    truly 

1  1  1  Ml    1  •       ^  1  1  •  Simplicity. 

humble  will  be  surprised  to  hear  anything 

exalted  of  themselves.  They  are  quiet,  cheerful,  obedi- 
ent, watchful,  fervent  in  spirit  ;  they  always  take  the 
lowest  place,  and  consider  every  one  superior  to  them- 
selves ;  they  are  lenient  to  the  faults  of  others  in  view 
of  their  own,  and  are  very  far  from  preferring  themselves 
before  any  one."  If  all  ministers  cannot  stoop  so  low  as 
this,  do  they  all  share  in  this  simple  spirit,  preferring  low- 
ness  to  exalfation  ?  Do  ministers  assume  nothing  upon 
their  being  ministers  ?  Dr.  Chalmers,  with  all  his  intense 
love  of  politics,  his  Scotch  sagacity,  and  his  shrewd 
knowledge  of  men,  had  the  simplicity  of  a  little  child — 
the  simplicity  of  an  entire  absence  of  malice  or  vanity. 

{Ji)  The  repression  of  the  spirit  of  envy.  Tillotson 
said  :  "  There  is  no  readier  way  for  a  man  to  bring 
his     own     worth     into    question     than    by 

endeavoring    to  detract   from    the  worth  of 

°  envy. 

others."      How    different    is    this    spirit    of 

detraction  and  envy  from  that  exhibited  by  Dr.  Owen  on 

the  trial   of  John   Bunyan,.when   he  said,  "  Please  your 


212  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Majesty,  could  I  possess  that  tinker's  abilities  for  preach- 
ing, I  would  gladly  relinquish  all  my  learning." 

(?)    The    cultivation    of    a    peaceable    spirit.       Rom. 
13  :  18,  "If  it  be  possible,  as  much  as  lieth 

LJi^a /*pQ  nlp— 

in  you,  live  peaceably  with  all  men.'' 
ness.  y      '  i 

"And  the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not 
strive."  Is  there  not  a  disputatious  class  of  ministers? 
We  do  not  refer  to  those  who  engage  in  manly  discussion 
for  the  truth's  sake  :  the  Stoics  had  a  saying,  that  even 
wise  men  might  be  at  variance  with  each  other  in  opinion  ; 
and  so,  too,  we  might  add,  may  good  Christian  men  also 
differ  ;  but  if  a  minister  attempts  to  answer  everything 
that  is  said  to  and  about  him,  to  oppose  every  petty 
assault  upon  him,  to  carry  through  every  notion,  fancy, 
or  scheme,  he  will  have  his  hands  full.  One's  peaceable- 
ness  should  not,  it  is  true,  descend  into  acquiescence  with 
actual  injustice  and  wrong  ;  for  the  time  may  come  when 
a  minister  should  fight,  if  not  for  his  own  rights,  yet  for 
the  rights  of  others. 

(7)  The  cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  entire  truthfulness. 
Vinet  quotes  the  example  of  the  apostle  Paul  in  this  re- 
spect, whose  tact  at  the  same  time  in  deal- 
Truthfulness.   ...  .  TT 

mg  with  men  no  one  would  qtestion.  He 
says,  "  St.  Paul  deeply  felt  these  truths.  He  testifies 
more  than  once  that  his  conduct  was  without  artifice  (2 
Cor.  4  :  2).  It  rejoices  him  to  say  that  in  him  there  was 
no  yea  and  nay  (2  Cor.  i  :  18).  He  ventures  to  rebuke 
an  apostle  who  did  not  walk  uprightly  (Gal.  2  :  14)."  It 
is  a  bad  thing  for  a  minister  to  acquire  the  reputation  of 
general  want  of  candor  ;  or  of  inaccuracy  and  looseness 
of  statement  ;  or  of  being  a  man  who  decorates  what  he 
says  ;  or  who  regards  victory  more  than  truth  ;  or  who 
breaks  his  engagements  easily  ;  or  who  is  culpably  careless 
in  small  trusts  ;  or  whose  word  is  not  entirely  and  abso- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  213 

lutely  trustworthy.  This  saps,  Httle  by  little,  the  tallest 
tower  of  ministerial  reputation.  While  a  minister's 
official  hands  are  outwardly  building  up  to  heaven,  his 
real  character  among  men  is  secretly  undermining  his  own 
work.  He  is  the  priest  of  Truth  ;  let  him  not  only  light 
her  fires  on  sacred  solemnities,  but  let  him  not  suffer  the 
sacred  flame  to  go  out,  for  an  instant,  upon  the  altar  of 
his  own  heart.  And  bound  up  with  truth  is  honesty.  A 
high  sense  of  honor  even  in  the  smallest  matters,  espe- 
cially of  a  pecuniary  nature,  is  becoming  the  minister 
of  righteousness  and  truth.  A  too  easy  conscience  in 
money  matters,  or  a  trickiness  and  slipperiness  in 
common  dealings  of  men  with  men,  the  suspicion  of  it, 
shows  the  want  somewhere  in  a  fineness  and  firmness  of 
moral  fibre,  a  lack  of  that  unyielding  spirit  of  honesty 
which  can  withstand  the  subtlest  assault  upon  its  integ- 
rity, to  say  nothing  of  the  monstrous  forrhs  of  business 
immorality  which  have  of  late  startled  even  American 
recklessness  ;  and  it  is  a  good  sign  that  public  opinion  is 
stiffening  itself  in  regard  to  clerical  character  and  honor 
in  every-day  affairs  ;  that  nothing  can  be  claimed  for  the 
profession  that  excepts  it  from  all  ordinary  demands  ;  that 
it  should  get  its  clothes,  and  books,  and  board,  and  rail-  ^ 
road  fare  no  cheaper  than  men  in  other  occupations  ;  and 
that  even  as  other  scholars,  poor  in  this  world's  goods, 
have  to  struggle  for  their  education,  so  students  of  theol- 
ogy should  not,  as  a  matter  of  course,  expect  extraordi- 
nary help  and  support,  and  should  be  thrown  back  more 
and  more  on  their  efforts  at  self-support.  The  sacred 
profession  should  be  the  manliest  of  all  ;  and  the  name 
of  "  charity  student,"  beyond  what  is  fair  and  reasonable, 
ought  not  to  affix  itself  to  this  more  than  to  any  other 
class  of  students. 

{k)  The  abhorrence  of  covetousness.     How  severe  is 


214  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  reproof  of  the  old  prophets  of  this  sin — Is.  56  :  10, 

II,  "His  watchmen  are  bHnd  ;  they  are  all 

Abhorrence    jg^Qj-ant,  they  are  all  dumb   dogs  ;  sleeping, 

of  covetous-      1.1  1         .  ,1  -iT  ^ 

lymg  down,  lovmg  to  slumber.  Yea,  they 
are  greedy  dogs,  which  can  never  have 
enough,  and  they  are  shepherds  that  cannot  understand  : 
they  all  look  to  their  own  way,  every  one  for  his  gain, 
from  his  quarter."  There  is  assuredly  a  true  principle 
of  self-interest,  which,  under  proper  restrictions,  is  right ; 
but  when  this  quality  becomes  inordinate,  and  grows 
into  a  selfish  spirit  which  is  continually  on  the  watch  for 
some  advantage,  some  worldly  gain,  even  in  the  sacred 
calling,  it  is  the  temper  of  one  whom  the  New  Testa- 
ment terms  "a  hireling."  This  was  the  sin  of  Simon 
Magus,  against  whom  the  apostle  flamed  out  in  righteous 
indignation,  saying,  "  Thy  money  perish  with  thee  ;"  for 
his  spirit  of  covetousness  revealed  a  heart  utterly  opposed 
to  the  conception  of  the  ministerial  gift  and  work.  The 
words  of  the  apostle  were  especially  addressed  to  the 
pastor  :  "  The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil  ; 
which  while  some  coveted  after,  they  have  erred  from  the 
faith  ;  but  thou,  O  man  of  God,  flee  those  things."  "  A 
bishop  must  not  be  given  to  filthy  lucre  ;"  and,  hard  as 
the  saying  is,  a  poor  man  (though  not  so  much  tempted  to 
be  so)  can  sometimes  be  equally  covetous  with  a  rich 
man  ;  for  it  is  not  the  fact  of  silver  or  gold,  or  property 
— good  things  in  themselves — but  the  inward  desire,  the 
spiritual  greed,  which  constitutes  covetousness.  The 
Pharisees  were  religious  teachers,  and  strictly  so,  too, 
but  it  was  said  of  them,  that  they  were  given  to 
covetousness  ;  and  the  covetous  minister  at  this  day  will 
be  drawn  by  this  single  passion  into  Pharisaism,  both  of 
doctrine  and  life  ;  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  will  work 
in  his  whole  nature,  which  is  a  deadly  evil. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  215 

The  great  guiding  principle  of  a  nninister's  life,  in  rela- 
tion to  his  people,  is  the  spirit  of  the  apostle's  words  (2 
Cor.  12  :  14),  "  I  seek  not  yours,  but  you." 

As  the  care  of  the  poor  falls  especially  upon  the  pastor, 
he  should,  to  the  extent  of  his  ability,  be  a  man  of  open 
hand,  and  should  give  the  tone  to  the  spirit  of  benevo- 
lence among  his  people,  being  first  in  all  good  works. 

Yet  the  pastor  is  by  no  means  called  upon  to  be  an  im- 
provident man  ;  he  is  to  provide  for  his  own  ;  he  has  a 
right  to  live  by  the  altar  which  he  serves,  and  he  is 
worthy  of  his  hire.  He  should  insist  upon  having  a 
regular  and  sufificient  salary,  one  paid  in  good  currency, 
and  not  in  the  uncertain  generosity  of  individuals./ 
"  Even  so  hath  the  Lord  ordained,  that  they  which 
preach  the  gospel  should  live  of  the  gospel  ;"  and  the 
reasons  for  this  are  obvious  :  the  work  is  a  real  work  ;  it 
is  the  labor  of  hand  and  brain  as  much  as  any  other  ;  and 
it  is  not,  too,  without  cost,  for  the  minister  must  pay  for 
his  education,  and  he  relinquishes  the  usual  means  of 
gain  in  order  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry  of  the 
Word  ;  his  position  is  an  expensive  one,  and  simple  jus- 
tice requires  that  he  should  be  paid  for  his  public  services, 
like  any  other  man  who  serves  the  public.  The  old 
Puritan  idea  of  the  Church's  obligation  toward  its 
minister  was  a  strict  one  ;  thus  the  language  of  the  Cam- 
bridge Platform  is  :  "In  case  that  congregations  are 
defective  in  their  contributions,  the  deacons  are  to  call 
upon  them  to  do  their  duty  ;  if  their  call  sufificeth  not, 
the  church  by  her  power  is  to  require  it  of  their  mem- 
bers ;  and  when  the  Church  through  corruption  of  man 
doth  not  or  cannot  attain  the  end,  the  magistrate  is  to 
see  that  the  ministry  be  duly  provided  for."  If  the 
Church  should  do  its  duty  by  the  pastor,  the  pastor 
surely  should  set  an  example  to  the  people  in  his  spirit  of 


2i6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

liberality,  and  show,  as  far  as  his  means  allow,  both 
the  nobility  and  the  high  privilege  of  giving  ;  and  it  is 
to  the  credit  of  the  ministry  that  men  of  large  hearts  are 
found  in  it,  who  do  all  that  they  can,  and  more  than  they 
can,  out  of  their  commonly  slender  means,  for  the  pur- 
poses of  general  charity  and  benevolence. 

It  must  be  said  of  Protestant  ministers  in  continental 
Europe,  that,  as  a  general  rule,  both  in  town  and  coun- 
try, they  live  very  simply  and  plainly,  and  therefore,  in 
this  respect,  like  the  primitive  pastors  and  ministers. 
Calvin,  it  is  related  by  his  biographers,  kept  house  for 
about  two  hundred  and  fifty  francs  a  year.  We  have 
seen  it  stated,  and  can  partly  confirm  it  by  personal 
observation,  that  the  country  Protestant  ministers  of 
Switzerland,  France,  and  Germany  frequently  live  in 
peasant  cottages,  with  sanded  floors,  eating  on  boards 
without  table-cloths,  and  sitting  on  bare  wooden  benches. 
Much  of  their  living  is  obtained  from  their  gardens,  which 
they  are  accustomed  to  cultivate  with  their  own  hands. 
The  very  communion  service  used  in  their  little  parish 
churches  sometimes  consists  of  wooden  plates  and  pewter 
cups.  This  may  be  a  strongly  drawn  statement  ;  but  we 
mention  it  because,  it  may  be,  that  in  our  land,  in  these 
later  times,  we,  or  some  of  us,  have  erred  in  the  other 
direction — in  not  preserving  a  sufficient  simplicity  of 
living  ;  and  because  the  example  of  these  ministers,  who 
are,  in  many  instances,  university-educated  men,  and  who 
yet  choose  to  live  like  the  humblest  of  their  flocks,  is  a 
salutary  and  encouraging  one  to  all.  The  writer  recalls 
a  visit  made  by  him  upon  a  good  home  missionary  at  the 
West,  in  whose  humble  house  of  three  or  four  rooms,  he  sat 
at  meal-time  with  one  of  the  most  beautiful  family  groups, 
consisting  of  father,  mother,  and  nine  children,  that  his 
eyes  ever  looked  upon,   handsome  in  features,    of  high 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  217 

intellectual  and  moral  cast,  bright  and  cheerful  withal, 
and  was  told  by  the  good  man  that  he  had  never  had  a 
sa.lary  above  three  hundred  dollars  a  year  ;  but  he  asked 
no  one's  pity,  he  had  always  had  enough,  and  had  eked 
out  his  slender  salary  by  his  bees  ;  and  he  then  exhibited 
with  pride  the  thirty  hives  or  more  in  the  garden,  while 
the  bees  buzzed  harmlessly  around  in  whirling  clouds,  as 
if  they  knew  their  friend  and  his  friend.  His  only  regret 
seemed  to  be  that  he  had  never  had  money  enough  to  re- 
visit his  college  at  the  East,  and  to  meet  his  classmates 
at  Commencement  season.  It  was  Goldsmith's  country 
parson  over  again  : 

"  And  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year." 

This,  however,  is  not  alwa3^s  the  picture  of  the  clergyman 
whose  support  is  ampler  as,  it  may  be,  his  duties  are 
more  laborious  and  his  field  of  labor  wider,  and  demand- 
ing fuller  and  richer  supplies.  We  believe,  in  every  case, 
where  the  means  allow,  that  good  taste  and  refinement 
should  be  mingled  with  a  simple  and  unostentatious 
method  of  domestic  economy — uniting,  as  Wordsworth 
said,  "  plain  living  and  high  thinking." 

Finally,  the  unselfish  spirit  should  prevail  in  all  the  in- 
tercourse and  relations  of  life  ;  and  one  should  be  willing 
himself  to  suffer  wrong  rather  than  to  exhibit  selfishness 
toward  others,  as  Pastor  Harms  said,  "  Better  be  the 
anvil  than  the  hammer" — better  take  the  hard  blows 
one's  self,  than  show  a  hard  and  exacting  spirit  toward 
other  men. 

Sec.  13.   Public  Relations. 

The  pastor  of  a  Christian  church  does  not  belong 
merely  to  his  own  church,  although  his  first  duty  is  to  it  : 
he  belongs  also    to  the  public.     He    is,  in  an  eminent 


2iS  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY, 

degree,  a  public  man,  upon  whom,  especially  in  a  forma- 
tive state  of  society  like  ours,  much  grave  responsibility 
of  a  public  nature  necessarily  falls.  Vinet,  though  a 
European,  held  large  ideas  of  the  universal  character  of 
the  pastoral  ofifice,  and  thought  that  the  Christian 
minister  should  be  himself  the  type  of  a  whole  human 
life,  even  as  Christian  faith  takes  human  life  up  and  re- 
deems it  in  every  part  and  every  function,  and  the  entire 
man  is  made  complete  in  Christ.  The  pastor  should  not 
shrink  from  these  legitimate  requirements  of  a  public 
nature,  when  they  do  not  interfere  with  more  essential 
duties  ;  and  he  should  strive,  in  obedience  to  the  great 
law  of  love  to  our  neighbor,  not  only  to  build  up  single 
souls  in  Christ,  but  the  community,  and  the  state  itself, 
into  a  higher  life — into  the  life  of  a  true  Christian  state. 
Let  the  minister,  then,  learn  to  cherish  comprehensive 
views  of  his  relations  to  all  men,  though  not  to  the 
neglect  of  his  primary  duties  to  his  own  people.  Let  him 
cultivate  the  power  of  following  out  the  wider  relations 
of  moral  principles  to  their  practical  results  in  the  nation 
and  in  the  world,  studying  the  workings  of  ideas  under 
the  surface  of  society,  and  their  effect  upon  the  popular 
character  ;  discovering  the  true  bearings  of  ideas,  and 
having  boldness  to  meet  those  ideas  in  their  social  and 
political,  as  well  as  their  more  strictly  personal  and 
spiritual  aspects,  to  search  them  through  in  the  light  of 
human  history,  and  of  a  true  Christian  philosophy.  Let 
him  not  leave  this  field  entirely  open  to  the  sway  of  false 
thinking,  because  it  is  not,  in  a  narrow  view  of  the  case, 
precisely  his  own  limited  field  of  ministerial  labor.  He 
is  to  oppose  error,  and  help  to  build  broad  and  deep  the 
foundations  of  a  true,  generous,  and  genial  Christian  civ- 
ilization, wherein  all  the  interests  of  the  Christian-  Church 
are  enshrined  and  conserved.     If  a  minister  surrenders 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO   SOCIETY.  219 

this  grand  idea  of  the  public  good,  he  is  apt  to  become  a 
commonplace  and  second-rate  man — a  kind  of  parish 
priest.  "He  often  spoke  with  much  bitterness  of  the 
growing  belief  in  three  sexes  of  humanity — men,  women, 
and  clergymen  ;  but,  for  his  part,  he  would  not  surren- 
der his  rightful  share  of  interference  in  all  the  great 
human  interests  of  his  time."  ' 

I.  As  the  discussion  of  the  moral  government  of  God 
does  not  confine  itself  to  the  science  of  theology,  but 
looks  to  the  application  of  the  principles  of  Human  life, 
truth,  justice,  order,  and  love  to  every  form  society,  and 
of  human  life,  society,  and  government,  the  government, 
minister  should  not  confine  his  attention  to  the  techni- 
cally theological  and  metaphysical  view  of  God's  govern- 
ment, but  should  send  his  eye  abroad  to  the  actual  con- 
dition of  the  world  in  its  relations  to  the  moral  govern- 
ment of  God,  and  ask  where  and  how  there  may  be,  as 
far  as  human  agency  can  efTect  it,  improvement  in  the 
state  of  the  world,  or  a  better  understanding  and  obedi- 
ence of  the  great  fundamental  laws  of  society  and  govern- 
ment. It  is,  indeed,  true  that  he  who  works  in  the  realm 
of  spirit — who  labors  to  bring  men  into  the  kingdom  and 
will  of  God — is  doing  the  deepest  work  toward  the 
general  improvement  of  society  and  the  world  ;  but,  in 
addition  to  that,  direct  efforts  aimed  at  the  prominent 
evils  of  society  are  called  for  from  true  men,  and  ever>' 
moral  and  political  reform  should  receive  the  minister's 
support,  and  at  fit  times  from  the  pulpit  ;  and  he  should 
give  no  unwilling,  timid,  or  uncertain  support.  He 
should  not  cease  maintaining  a  good  cause,  from  the 
reason  there  may  be  men  engaged  in  it  with  whom  he 
cannot  sympathize  in  strictly  religious  matters,  or  who 


'  Lord  Houghton  on  Rev.  Sydney  Smith. 


2  20  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

make  moral  reform  and  "  social  science"  their  religion. 
The  heterodox  Samaritan,  who  did  a  deed  of  charity  to 
his  neighbor,  was  approved  above  the  orthodox  Levite. 

As  the  Christian  pastor  is  a  leader  {fiyov}xivo<C)  of  men, 
he  owes  the  state  a  more  marked,  prompt,  and  high-toned 
service  than  other  men  ;  and  he  should  let  it  be  known 
that  he  does,  and  does  intentionally,  carry  his  religion 
into  his  duties  as  a  man  and  a  citizen.  The  minister  is 
to  show  what  political  atheism  would  be  delighted  to  dis- 
prove— that  Christianity  is  beautifully  adapted  to  the 
highest  state  of  civilization  which  can  be  attained,  and  is, 
in  fact,  the  germinal  principle  of  such  a  civilization. 

Therefore  the  minister  should,  in  a  country  like  this, 
not  be  unmindful  of  the  power  of  public  opinion,  and 
should  seek  to  influence  that  opinion  for  good  as  far  as 
he  can,  and  to  salt  with  truth  the  springs  of  influence, 
which  go  to  vitalize  the  state  as  well  as  the  individual. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  true  that  Christianity  does  not 
assume,  as  yet,  the  entire  control  of  public  affairs.  It 
comes  as  an  independent  force  into  the  world,  and  must 
work  its  way  along  with  other  forces,  until,  by  the  mani- 
festation of  its  superiority  and  divinity,  it  obtains  the 
mastery  of  affairs.  Thus  the  minister  of  Christianity 
should  be  content  to  work  patiently  in  a  humble  way,  and 
should  not  be  arrogant  in  asserting  the  claims  of  his  re- 
ligion. Christianity  works  from  within  outward,  so  that 
undeniably  its  prime  method  of  progress  is  to  bring  the 
single  soul,  or  will,  into  the  dominion  of  the  will  of  God, 
and  by  thus  making  it  an  agent  of  subduing  other  wills 
to  God,  acts  as  a  hidden  leaven  in  society  and  the  world. 
The  minister  should  not  be  a  public  man,  and  a  leader  of 
public  opinion,  and  nothing  else  ;  his  faith  must  be  still 
in  the  secret,  viewless,  mighty  power  of  God,  operating 
in  harmony  with  the  truth  ;  and  he  must  rest  on  God  as 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATION'S    TO    SOCIETY.  221 

the  real  reforming  power  in  the  world,  and  not  lose  heart 
or  hope  when  a  human  theory  of  progress  fails.  God  is 
more  concerned  to  work  righteousness  and  bring  about 
the  triumph  of  truth  in  the  world  than  the  best  man  is  ; 
and  God  should  be  the  spring  of  our  strength  and  effort 
in  all  genuine  movements  for  the  public  good.  A 
minister  should  under  no  circumstances  become  a 
demagogue  who  mounts  upon  a  current  of  popular  ex- 
citement to  increase  his  personal  popularity  or  power  ; 
for  such  a  man  pollutes  his  office,  and  is  ruled  by  the 
people  ultimately,  instead  of  ruling  them  ;  or  he  is  apt  to 
make  some  enormous  blunder,  which  reacts  disastrously 
upon  his  own  reputation  and  good  influence.  A  minister 
should  keep  these  public  questions  subordinate  to  truth 
and  higher  spiritual  interests,  and  people  should  not  get 
the  idea  that  he  is  more  interested  in  such  public  ques- 
tions than  in  those  higher  questions  of  truth  and  duty 
that  lie  behind  them^in  fact,  in  the  gospel.  He  should 
strive  to  infuse  the  new  spirit  of  the  gospel  into  human 
society,  and  it  should  be  for  this  purpose,  and  this  pur- 
pose alone,  that  he  descends  into  the  arena  of  public  af- 
fairs. He  is  the  friend  of  humanity  ;  he  is  to  preach 
Christ  in  his  vast  and  varied  relations  to  human  law  and 
life,  and,  like  the  prophet  of  old,  he  is  to  pursue  wrong 
fearlessly  in  high  places  and  low,  to  tear  away  its  mask, 
and  to  set  forth  the  right  as  clear  as  the  sun. 

2.  As  the  interests  of  religion  and   education  go  to- 
gether ;  as  true  knowledge  is  the  knowledge  of  the  truth, 

and  springs  from  God  ;  and  as  faith  itself,  up 

,.  ...  i.j.ii*'i        Education 

to  a  certam  ponit,  is  constantly  turning  into 

•1    -I-  ^ViA 

knowledge  ;  therefore  it  is  the  responsibility    ijteratur" 
of  the  Christian  minister  to  set  Christ  in  the 
heart  of  the  educational  as  well  as  the  spiritual  world, 
as  "  the  light  of  the  world."  There  is  a  ceaseless  struggle 


222  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

going  on  here.  There  is  a  powerful  element  in  the  world, 
and  in  our  land,  opposed  to  the  supernatural  claims  of 
the  Christian  faith,  whose  effort  is  to  obtain  control  of 
every  source  of  influence,  and  especially  of  that  im- 
mense spring  of  power  which  is  comprehended  in  the 
education  of  the  land  ;  for  men  well  know  that  they 
who  educate  the  nation  govern  the  nation.  The  minister 
of  the  higher  light  and  truth  should  not  slumber  at  his 
post  ;  and  though  pressed  for  time,  he  should  not  shun 
positions  which  yield  him  opportunity  to  exert  some 
shaping  influence  upon  public  education. 

Under  this  theme  we  might  speak  of  a  minister's 
connection  with  the  press  and  the  general  world  of  let- 
ters, which  we  have  done  in  another  relation,  and  which 
is  an  unlimited  field  of  public  influence.  A  minister 
should,  in  some  part  of  his  life,  expect  to  do  good 
through  his  pen,  even  if  it  may  be  outside  of  the  field  of 
theological  literature.  If  he  has  any  peculiar  intellectual 
taste,  whether  for  literature  or  science,  should  he  leave  it 
uncultivated  ?  Some  ministers  have  been  successful  in 
the  field  of  science,  and  sovereigns  in  the  realm  of 
literature.  Not  only  such  great  men  as  Jeremy  Taylor, 
Robert  Hall,  Dr.  Chalmers,  Dr.  Arnold,  will  preach 
through  their  writings  to  all  coming  time,  but  many  of 
our  living  American  ministers  are  doing  much  to  infuse  a 
better  spirit  into  the  courses  of  literature,  and  are  writing 
good  books  on  subjects  of  pith  and  moment.  After  the 
first  strain  of  his  professional  duties  is  passed  a  minister 
may  be  called  upon  to  write  for  the  public  ;  only  let  him 
guard  against  the  passion  of  seeing  himself  in  print. 
"  Never,"  said  Leigh  Hunt,  "  draw  up  the  curtain  until 
you  feel  pretty  certain  that  you  have  something  to  sliow 
in  the  window." 

3.  Artistic,    industrial,    and     agricultural     interests — 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO    SOCIETY.  223 

everything,   in  fact,   that  improves  and  humanizes   and 

beautifies  society — should  not  lie  altogether 

outside  of  a  Christian  pastor's  attention  and        ^  '  *"  "^' 

11-  ^""7'  ^"d  agri- 

sympathy..    He  should  do  his  share — and  it       culture 

is  a  large  one — ^to  form  a  society  in  which  all 

the  faculties,   activities,  and  affections  of  men   may  be 

developed  from  the  central  principle  of  the  love  of  God 

through  the  regenerating  power  of  Christ's  spirit,  so  that, 

in  some  faint  degree,  the  society  of  earth  may  resemble 

the  society  of  heaven. 


PART  FOURTH. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELATIONS 
TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP. 


Sec.    14.    Tlicory  and  Form  of  Public  Worship. 

Public    worship    has    reference    to    the    stated   and 

regular  service  of  God,  or  the  external  religious  cultus 

where  the  whole    congregation   of  Christian 

ecessi  y    pgQpjg  ^j-g  brought  together  for  the  solemn 

and  nature  ,  .        .    „ 

of  public     P^^iss  a^^a  worship  of  God.     Public  worship, 

worship,  as  the  combined  worship  of  individual 
hearts,  necessarily  takes  on  a  more  formal 
method  than  the  freer  forms  of  private  devotion  ;  and 
the  duties  and  functions  of  the  Christian  ministry  are  so 
intimately  entwined  with  this  that  it  is  necessary  to  dis- 
cuss this  subject  with  some  little  care.  The  minister,  is 
the  TtpoaffTco?,  or  the  presiding  officer,  in  the  service  of 
public  worship,  a  most  interesting  department  of  the 
ministerial  function,  and  involving  the  possession  and 
manifestation  of  many  great  qualities  of  mind  and  heart. 
In  this  united  uplifting  of  the  souls  of  men,  borne  on  by 
the  impulse  of  sympathy  and  gathering  force  and  fire  by 
the  spiritual  enthusiasm  of  combined  awe  and  adoration 
to  the  common  Father  of  spirits,  he  only  whose  heart  is 
great  and  pure  enough  to  tend  the  sacrificial  flame  can 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS    TO  PUBLIC    WORSHIP.   225 

minister  as  a  priest  acceptably  at  this  altar.  "  Who 
shall  ascend  into  the  hill  of  the  Lord  ?  or  who  shall  stand 
in  his  holy  place  ?  He  that  hath  clean  hands  and  a  pure 
heart  ;  who  hath  not  lifted  up  his  soul  unto  vanity,  nor 
sworn  deceitfully. " 

I.  There  is  a  necessity  in  our  nature  to  express  re- 
ligious feelings  in  some  outward  manner  ;  to  manifest,  in 
some  appropriate  external  form,  the  sentiment  of  rever- 
ence and  adoration  toward  God.  This  principle  of  repre- 
sentation, united  with  the  social  element  in  man,  which 
impels  him  to  a  fellowship  with  others  even  in  his  most 
devotional  acts,  leads  to  public  worship.  Worship  is  not 
precisely  religion  itself,  but  it  is  the  expression  of  the  re- 
ligious sentiment  in  an  act  that  comprehends  the  offering 
up  of  the  whole  man — body,  soul,  and  spirit — to  God,  all 
parts  of  our  complex  nature  entering  into  this  act,  and  all 
of  them  being  fitly  represented  in  the  great  common  act 
of  public  worship.  Thus  the  bodily  nature  is  represented 
by  the  actual  presence  in  the  house  of  God,  by  the  atti- 
tude of  devotion,  and  by  the  outward  ordinance  which 
appeals  to  the  bodily  eye  and  sense,  and  this  is  that 
symbolic  element  in  worship  to  which  belong  the  exter- 
nal form  and  method  of  devotion. 

There  is  also  the  emotional  part  of  the  nature,  which 
enters  profoundly  into  public  worship,  the  rendering  up 
of  the  spiritual  sensibilities  and  affections  to  God,  the  ex- 
pressing of  itself  in  the  penitential  confession,  the 
sacred  lyric,  and  the  adoring  prayer  :  this  forms  the 
purely  liturgical  element  in  worship — that  which  is  vitally 
essential  to  its  life  and  fervor.  "  Prayer  is  the  soul  of 
Christian  worship,  as  it  is  the  source  of  Christian  life. 
It  springs  up  freely,  as  does  the  word  of  edification.  It 
originally  contained  no  admixture  of  any  formal  element, 
and  there  is  not  a  word  in  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament 


2  26  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

in  support  of  the  idea  that  even  the  Lord's  Prayer  was 
repeated  as  a  sacred  formula."  "  But  genuine  feeling  is 
the  soul  of  worship,  and,  above  all,  the  feeling  of 
dependent  trust  and  affectionate  devotion  toward  God, 
the  true  ''  sursuni  corda'  of  the  primitive  Church.  We 
can,  indeed,  think  of  many  other  things  which  come  into, 
and  must  come  into.  Christian  worshp  ;  but  if  the  heart  is 
wanting,  all  is  wanting.  The  intellect  and  conscience,  it 
is  true,  enter  largely  into  Christian  worship  ;  but  wor- 
ship, in  its  inmost  sense,  is  not  intellectual  instruction, 
nor  is  it  the  active  operation,  at  the  time,  of  the  moral 
sehse — i.e.,  doing  acts  of  duty  or  benevolence — but  it  is 
the  lifting  up  of  the  heart  to  God  in  humble,  penitent, 
joyful  adoration.  It  is  the  expression  of  the  love  and 
the  willing  service  of  God,  and  of  readiness  and  yearning 
to  receive  spiritual  gifts  from  him.  The  heart  of  the 
worshipper  must  be  brought  into  this  fit  state  to  receive 
blessings  from  God.  It  should  be  in  a  receptive  as  well 
as  active  state  ;  indeed,  it  might  be,  in  part,  in  a  purely 
passive  condition — one  of  love,  faith,  trust  ;  one  able  to 
receive  as  well  as  to  give. 

And,  again,  the  intellectual,  or  the  rational  nature,  in- 
cluding both  the  conscience  and  will,  has  its  appropriate 
place  in  the  solemn  act  of  public  worship  :  this  is  the 
didactic  element  that  leads  the  soul  into  truth,  and  builds 
it  up  in  the  spirit  and  life  of  Christ.  Vinet,  quoting  from 
Harms,  says  that  "  preaching  is  only  an  accidental 
adjunct  of  worship,  not  an  integral  part  of  it."  We  can- 
not agree  to  this  theory,  and  we  should  prefer  to  take  the 
larger  view  of  worship  which  has  already  been  given,  and 
which  implies  the  engaging  of  all  the  faculties  and 
powers    of   the    being,    rational   and    moral    as   well   as 


'  De  Pressense's  "  Early  Years  of  Christianity." 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    227 

emotional,  in  the  one  comprehensive  act  of  consecration 
and  praise  to  God.  Protestants  rightly  view  preaching 
the  Word  as  a  main  part  of  Christian  worship,  and 
Protestants  should  not,  therefore,  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that  preaching  is  worship  ;  that  God,  and  not  the  human 
preacher,  is  the  great  end  of  preaching  ;  that  preaching 
itself  is  but  a  part  of  the  praise  of  God.  Preaching,  as 
an  element  of  public  worship,  however,  is  a  thing  very 
different  from  the  popular  address  or  lecture  upon  any 
ethical  theme,  useful  as  it  may  be.  Preaching  has  certain 
features  which  constitute  its  proper  relations  to  the  wor- 
ship of  God's  house,  which  make  it  also  an  act  of  praise, 
and  which  do  not  permit  it  to  stand  isolated  as  a  mere 
■effort  of  -the  human  mind,  or  a  pure  expression  of 
thought.  True  worship  is,  indeed,  the  edifying  or  build- 
ing up  of  the  people  in  all  Christian  faith  and  godliness  ; 
but  it  does  this  by  leading  them  to  God  in  prayer,  song, 
reading  the  Scriptures,  and  preaching  ;  by  developing 
the  divine  life,  the  real  Christian  feeling,  the  true  spirit 
of  Christian  love  that  is  in  the  people.  It  is  bringing 
out  this  consciousness  of  the  life  of  God  and  Christ  that 
exists  in  the  souls  of  the  congregation,  giving  expression 
to  this,  uniting  and  guiding  and  deepening  it,  and  thus 
warming  into  new  growth  and  activity  every  power  and 
quality  of  the  Christian  life. 

True  worship  makes  better  Christians,  purer,  more  self- 
sacrificing,  and  courageous  workers  in  all  good  things,  be- 
cause the  heart  has  been  kindled  by  contact  with  the 
heart  of  Christ.  In  the  same  way,  preaching  to  save  the 
souls  of  the  impenitent  finds  its  highest  impulse  in  the 
praise  and  glory  of  God,  that  those  darkened  and  silent 
spirits  may,  by  the  renewing  spirit  of  Christ  given  to 
them,  break  their  chains  of  sin  and  join  in  the  universal 
song  of  praise  that  goes  up   from    holy  hearts  to   the 


2  28  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

blessed  Lord  and  Redeemer  of  our  nature.  This  deep 
inter-relation  of  preaching  to  the  whole  idea  of  divine 
worship  is,  we  think,  a  very  important  one,  and  settles 
many  questions  in  regard  to  the  subject-matter,  style, 
length,  manner,  and  entire  character  of  the  sermon  in  the 
public  services  of  the  sanctuary. 

Lastly,  and  above  all,  the  more  purely  spiritual  element 
should  not  be  wanting.  This  is  the  drawing  out  of  the 
highest  nature  of  man  in  the  adoration  of  God,  raising 
man  to  a  participation  with  God  in  spiritual  things,  and 
promoting  a  real  and  present  union  with  Christ.  This  is 
that  inner  soul-element  which  constitutes  true  spiritual 
worship,  as  contradistinguished  from  all  merely  human, 
formal,  ritual,  and  external  worship  ;  which,  in  fine,  ful- 
fils the  words  of  the  Saviour  when  he  said,  "But  the 
hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  true  worshippers 
shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  This  is 
the  worship  which  Christ  himself  and  his  disciples  ren- 
dered to  the  Father  of  all  mercies,  and  which  now,  in  the 
name  and  through  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  in- 
spired by  the  Spirit,  is  rendered  by  true  believers,  the 
world  over,  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  This  conception  of  public  worship  which  has 
been  set  forth,  which  summons  the  varied  nature  of  man 
to  a  high  and  joyful  act  of  praise,  and  consecrates  his 
entire  being,  body  and  soul,  as  a  reasonable  offering  to 
God,  meets,  wc  believe,  the  highest  Christian  conscious- 
ness, as  we  find  it  developed  in  the  New  Testament,  and 
in  the  history  and  worship  of  the  Christian  Church. 

None  of  the  elements  which  have  been  mentioned 
should  be  wanting  in  the  great  common  act  of  public 
worship  ;  all  should  have  their  proper  place,  and  the  loss 
of  even  one  of  them  would  seriously  impair  the  unity, 
beauty,    and  truth   of  their  worship.     Without  the  out- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    229 

ward  form  of  devotion  we  run  into  the  subjective  and  in- 
expressive idea  of  worship,  which  tends  to  degenerate 
into  no-worship  and  evaporates  in  silence  and  nonentity. 
In  the  absence  of  the  emotional  or  more  purely  devo- 
tional element,  the  worship  becomes  lifelessly  formal  or 
fatally  rationalistic,  for  the  external  form  is  meaningless 
without  the  spirit  which  gives  it  life  ;  so  that  if  a  man 
goes  to  church  with  the  sole  idea  of  gaining  instruction, 
of  having  doubtful  points  cleared  up,  and  he  obtains  no 
new  light  on  the  dark  things  of  truth,  he  might  very  well 
say,  "  It  would  be  as  well  for  me  to  stay  at  home  ;  I 
have  books  written  by  master  minds  ;  I  get  no  food 
here,"  Yet  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  didactic  element 
were  taken  away,  the  worship  would  sink  into  bald  ritual- 
ism ;  not  a  ray  of  the  divine  intelligence  would  shine 
through  it,  it  would  be  love  without  knowledge,  and,  for 
all  power  to  help  a  soul  to  rise  to  God,  it  would  be  "as 
sounding  brass  or  a  tinkling  cymbal." 

2.   We  have  thus   endeavored  to  set  forth  the  general 
theory  of  public  worship  ;  let  us  now  look  for  a  moment 
at  its  actual  form  and  expression.     This  out- 
ward form,  where  it  does  not  embrace  actual     ,.  ^. 
'                                                                               he  worship. 

error,  is,   we  hold,  left  substantially  to  the 
choice  and  regulation  of  the  Church  ;  therefore  we  think 
it    profitable    to    inquire    into    all    legitimate   sources   of 
power,  interest,  fervor,  and  truth  in  public  worship. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  more  spiritual  the 
church  the  less  need  it  has  of  outward  forms  of  worship  ; 
yet  even  that  principle  cannot  be  carried  too  far,  for  in 
heaven,  where  it  is  supposed  that  forms  will  not  be 
needed,  there  is  represented  to  be  something  like  form, 
harmony,  and  communion  in  worship.  The  four  and 
twenty  elders  give  praise  to  the  Lord  God  Almighty  ; 
the  hundred  and    forty   and    four  thousand  sing  the  new 


230  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

song,  and  the  harpers  join  with  them  ;  there  is  a  definite 
theme  of  praise,  and  a  definite  number  who  sing  and 
praise  together.  Now,  if  this  is  an  image  given  us  of 
the  praise  and  worship  of  heaven,  it  would  seem  as  if 
some  form  were  needed  for  those  who  still  possess  human 
bodies,  associations,  and  sympathies,  and  who  are  creat- 
ures with  human  limitations  of  time  and  place. 

The  great  question,  then,  is — and  the  pastor,  who  is 
the  leader  of  the  worship,  is  especially  interested  in  it — 
How  much  of  outward  form  is  required  in  the  public 
worship  of  God  ? 

The  general  testimony  of  the  New  Testament  is 
assuredly  in  favor  of  simple  forms  of  worship — of  the 
simplest  framework  necessary  to  sustain  the  tender  plants 
of  devotion,  lest  they  be  trampled  in  the  mire  of  com- 
mon things.  But,  still,  in  the  New  Testament  itself 
there  is  evidence  of  a  considerable  variety  in  the  matter 
of  form,  and  the  whole  subject  of  public  worship  was 
evidently  left  pretty  much  to  the  needs  and  will  of  the 
churches,  or  of  those  who  presided  over  them,  and  to  the 
exigencies  of  the  historical  development  of  the  Church  of 
God  on  earth.  But  toward  the  close  of  the  apostolic 
period,  we  have  the  fact  clearly  developed  that  there 
was  something  like  a  regularly  organized  public  service 
of  God,  consisting  of  distinct  parts,  as  in  our  public  ser- 
vice at  this  day  ;  and  special  directions  are  given  in  the 
later  Epistles  respecting  the  order  of  the  exercises,  the 
whole  course  of  public  worship,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
persons  engaged  in  it.  In  the  writings,  both  sacred  and 
profane,  immediately  succeeding  the  apostolic  age,  the 
same  fact  is  confirmed,  down  to  the  period  when  form 
usurped  the  place  of  spirit,  and  worship  became  a  corrupt 
externalism.  But  we  will  not  go  over  the  historical 
ground  ;  we  would  only  say  a  word  here  in  regard  to  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.     231 

Lord's  Supper,  which  has  been  sometimes  thought  to  be 
the  historic  germ  of  Christian  public  worship.  This,  we 
think,  can  hardly  be  so  ;  for  there  is  strong  proof  that 
when  the  Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated  every  time  Chris- 
tians met  together,  and  every  day  by  the  church  of  Jeru- 
salem, it  was  then  connected  with  the  "  Agapse"  or 
"  Feasts  of  Love,"  and  was  not,  therefore,  strictly  to  be 
considered  as  forming  a  part  of  divine  worship  ;  but  it 
was  rather  a  feast  of  Christian  love  and  friendship,  in 
which  Christ  formed  one — a  simple  continuation  of  the 
first  supper,  only  it  recognized  Christ  in  a  more  formal 
manner,  as  the  real  bond  of  love  and  fellowship.  We 
do  not  think  that  any  argument  can  be  drawn  from  this 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  ought  to  be  looked  upon  as  the 
originating  cause  of  Christian  worship,  or  that  it  should 
be  celebrated  every  Sunday.  "  The  Lord's  Supper 
could  not  then  have  any  possible  analogy  with  a  sacrifice. 
It  was  not  kept  distinct  at  this  period  from  an  ordinary 
meal  ;  it  was  the  conclusion  of  ordinary  meals,  as  it  had 
been  the  conclusion  of  the  Passover  Feast.  The  com- 
memoration of  Redemption  took  place  every  time  that 
Christians  gathered  around  the  family  table.  St.  Luke 
says  positively  that  it  was  observed  from  house  to  house. '" 
The  historian  Cave,  it  is  true,  takes  the  ground  that  the 
growing  laxity  in  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper,  first 
every  Sabbath,  then  every  month,  then  every  two 
months,  is  evidence  of  the  decline  of  faith  in  the  primi- 
tive Church  ;  but  even  in  Justin  Martyr's  day  we  find 
that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  already  separated  from  the 
"  Feasts  of  Love,"  and  did  not,  therefore,  form  the 
direct  object  or  occasion  of  every  assemblage  of  Chris- 
tians,   whether   for   social   purposes   or   public    worship. 


'  De  Pressense's  "  Early  Christianity,"  p.  52. 


232  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

This  idea,  however,  seized  upon  by  the  Romish  Church, 
of  clustering  everything  about  the  Eucharist,  has  led  to 
the  Romish  Mass,  and,  in  fact,  to  the  whole  vast  system 
and  structure  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The 
Lord's  Supper  is,  undoubtedly,  the  highest  and  tenderest 
act  of  Christian  public  worship  ;  but  it  is  not  the  only, 
nor  even  the  seminal,  act  of  all  Christian  public  worship, 
nor  do  we  believe  that  our  Lord  would  wish  it  to  be  so 
regarded. 

Some  kind  of  formal  worship  is,  then,  to  be  regarded 
as  necessary  ;  for  even  Quakers  admit  this  by  their  com- 
ing together  in  regular  places  of  solemn  assembly,  and 
every  Christian  body  or  denomination  has  its  regular 
form  of  public  worship,  just  as  truly  as  the  Roman 
Catholics  have  theirs.  The  unliturgical  worship  is  as 
much  a  form  as  any  other,  only  a  much  simpler  form  ; 
and  in  many  instances  such  worship  has  come  to  have 
fixed  forms  of  words,  though  taken  from  the  Bible,  as  in 
the  benedictions,  the  formulas  for  baptism,  and  the 
Lord's  Supper.  There  is,  indeed,  a  strong  tendency  in 
the  very  prayers  to  run  into  set  forms  of  words,  showing 
that  there  is  a  certain  undercurrent  toward  permanent 
methods  of  expression  and  forms  even  in  the  freest 
systems  of  public  worship. 

The  question  next  arises.  What  kind  of  formal  worship 
(humanly  speaking)  is  best  adapted  to  meet  the  true  ends 
of  worship  ;  to  produce,  sustain,  and  develop  the  spirit 
of  praise,  the  spirit  of  service,  and  the  feeling  of  true 
devotion  and  adoration  ? 

To  answer  this  question  at  all  would  lead  us  to  discuss, 
however  briefly,  the  topic  of  Liturgies. 

Liturgies  (from  Xslroi  and  epyov),  signifying  the 
theory  and  ofifice  of  public  ministration,  when  applied  to 
Christian  worship — means  those  principles  that  regulate 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     233 

the    order  of  sacred  service  in  the  Church.     "  Thus   in 

ecclesiastical    usajre,    not   only   the    bishops     ^  .^ 

°  ■'  Liturgies, 

and   presbyters,   but  also  the  deacons,   very 

soon  received  the  name  of  liturges,  and  the  name  of 
liturgy  was  conferred  upon  every  public  sacred  action  of 
the  Church,  specially  those  that  had  reference  to  the 
celebration  of  Holy  Communion.  During  and  after  the 
Middle  Ages  in  particular,  by  the  term  liturgy  was  under- 
stood the  description  of  the  order  in  which  the  public 
worship  took  place.  Originating  in  various  regions,  and 
modified  in  accordance  with  the  practice  of  different  peo- 
ples, there  arose,  at  a  period  still  comparatively  early, 
besides  the  Roman,  also  the  Ambrosian,  the  Mozarabic, 
the  Galilean  liturgy  in  the  Western  Church  ;  while  in 
the  East  that  of  James,  of  Basil,  of  Chrysostom,  and 
others,  enjoyed  peculiar  distinction.  The  Protestant 
churches  likewise  have  their  Liturgies,  called  also 
Agenda,  in  which  the  regularly  recurring  portions  of  the 
service  are  comprehended,  in  distinction  from  the  word 
delivered  freely.  Thus  by  liturgical  writings  we  under- 
stand those  which  contain  of^cial  churchly  precepts  with 
regard  to  the  public  worship.  "Liturgical  actions  are  such 
as  the  president  of  the  congregation  performs  definitely 
in  his  character  as  conductor  of  the  public  worship."  ' 

The  matter  of  Liturgies  may  be  made  too  much  of,  as 
in  the  very  High  Church,  where  religion  is  comprehended 
and  concentrated  in  its  forms,  or  made  too  little  of,  as 
in  those  bodies  where  regulated  uniformity  of  expression 
in  worship  is  disregarded,  or  public  worship  itself  is  dis- 
esteemed. 

But  has  Liturgicsany  principles  upon  which  a  Christian 
form  of  public  worship  can  be  reared  ? 


'  Van  Oosterzee's  "  Prac.  Theol.,"  p.  346. 


234  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

These  principles,  if  there  be  such,  can  be  gathered  ob- 
jectively from  the  history  of  the  Church,  and 

.     .  ,         subjectively  from  the  Christian  consciousness 
principles.  ^  ^ 

of  believers,  and  of  him,  in  especial,  who  is 
the  constituted  leader  of  public  service — the  pastor. 

While  the  testimony  of  Scripture  and  of  ecclesiastical 
history  leads  us  to  suppose  that  the  form  of  public  wor- 
ship was  not  arbitrarily  prescribed,  but  was  left  to  the 
free  development  of  the  Spirit  in  different  ages,  the  hu- 
man as  well  as  the  divine  element  coming  into  them,  as  in 
the  Patriarchal,  the  Mosaic,  the  Apostolic,  the  Catholic, 
and  the  Protestant  ages,  yet  certain  principles  belonging  to 
the  nature  of  faith  and  the  constitution  of  the  mind  ran  un- 
derneath all,  or  at  least  formed  the  basis  upon  which  all  true 
worship  must  rest,  and  which  have  been  more  or  less  per- 
fectly expressed  in  the  past,  so  that  in  any  reform  of  public 
Christian  worship  these  principles  should  enter,  develop- 
ing the  present  from  the  past  and  its  devotional  life. 
Who  would  care  for  a  liturgy  which  did  not  find  a  place 
for  the  Psalms  of  David  ;  and  the  spiritual  songs  and 
creed  of  the  apostles ;  and  the  Te  Deiim,  the  Gloria 
in  Excelsis,  and  the  Latin  hymns  which  rang  through  the 
basilicas  of  the  Middle  Ages  ;  and  the  hymns  of  Luther  ; 
and  the  Litany  of  the  English  Church  ;  and  the  prayers 
that  sprang  like  flames  of  fire  from  the  burdened  souls  of 
the  persecuted  Huguenots  and  the  Puritans  ?  Let  no 
one  or  no  one  church  presumptuously  suppose  that  it  can 
originate  dc  novo  a  liturgy  which  shall  satisfy  the  wants 
of  believers  who  are  heirs  of  all  the  centuries  of  faith,  in 
whose  veins  runs  the  blood  of  the  old  confessors,  and  to 
whom  assuredly  belongs  the  consecrated  past,  as  well  as 
the  living  present,  of  the  Church's  history.  There  are  a 
few  simple  principles  of  Christian  worship  that,  at  a 
glance,  are  seen  to  be  fundamental  and  almost  axiomatic. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     235 

(i)  Public  worship  in  its  source  and  object  must  be  divine. 
It  must  be  truly  the  worship  of  the  Most  High.  This 
seems  to  be  the  simplest  of  principles  ;  but  worship  that  is 
wholly  subjective  and  impressional,  that  is  confined  to 
the  worshipper  in  its  active  or  reactive  influence,  that 
reaches  no  higher  in  its  aim  than  the  gratification  or  ex- 
altation of  the  human,  and  does  not  satisfy  the  want  of 
union  with  the  divine,  that  does  not,  in  fine,  reach  God  and 
worship  God,  infringes  this  principle.  Let  it  be  ever  so 
homely  or  ever  so  elaborate,  if  it  is  not  the  praise  and 
service  of  God,  it  is  no  worship.  Worship  is  the  ladder 
of  Bethel  that  reaches  heaven.  It  adores  and  lays  hold 
of  that  which  is  infinitely  above  the  worshipper,  and 
meets  the  deep  needs  and  desires  of  souls  in  their  yearn- 
ings for  God,  and  for  communion  with  the  Father  of  all 
spirits. 

(2)  Public  worship  must  have  the  spirit  beneath  the 
form.  Whatever  the  form  be,  the  living  spirit  of  devotion 
should  glow  beneath. 

"Thou  prayest  not,  save  when  within  thy  soul  thou  prayest." 

It  is  the  soul  alone  that  prays,  praises,  confesses,  and 
adores,  and  without  it  the  words  of  the  prayer  are  little 
better  than  a  charm  which  floats  on  the  air  and  dies  into 
silence  more  profound  than  that  which  follows  the  voices 
of  irrational  creatures  that  cry  unto  the  Lord  for  food  and 
he  heareth  them.  It  is  the  soul,  and  the  soul  alone  that 
prays,  praises,  confesses,  and  adores.  The  form  without 
the  spirit  is  dead. 

(3)  Public  worship  must  embody  Christian  faith  in 
order  to  be  Christian  worship.  Deistic  and  Pantheistic 
prayers,  as  were  the  prayers  of  yEschylus  and  the  Vedas, 
are  sublime,  but  they  are  not  Christian.  The  offering  of 
the  Christian  temple  is  the  pure  sacrifice  of  Christ  ;  and 


236  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

its  altar  of  offering  is  the  spiritual  faith  built  on  him,  and 
on  his  love,  his  name,  and  his  righteous  intercession, 

(4)  Public  worship  should  embody  the  devotional  life, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  the  devotional  forms  of  the  his- 
toric past  of  the  Church.  These,  as  has  been  said,  are 
not  the  heritage  of  one  branch  of  the  Church  more  than 
of  another  :  they  are  a  common  inheritance  of  true  be- 
lievers. 

(5)  Public  worship  should  be  orderly.  Order  is  not 
only  a  natural  but  a  spiritual  principle.  While  we  con- 
tinue to  be  imperfect  and  semi-sensual  beings,  there 
should  be,  surely,  for  such  imperfect  creatures,  the 
orderly  and  invariable  element  in  worship  ;  and  even  with 
perfect  spiritual  beings  in  heaven  there  seems  to  be  the 
grand  law  of  order.  This  is  the  same  principle  that 
manifests  itself  even  in  the  simple  forms  of  the  regular 
recurrence  of  the  "  Lord's  day,"  the  periodic  celebration 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  the  repetition  of  the  formal  order 
of  service,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  in  the  rehearsing  of 
the  doxology  and  the  benediction.  Liturgical  churches 
have  certainly  appreciated  this  simple  law  of  our  mental 
being — order,  uniformity — and  made  more  of  it  than 
other  churches  do.  Their  form  of  worship  is  a  fixed 
quantity.  Might  not  other  churches  also  make  more  use 
of  this  important  principle  ?  Might  they  not  avail 
themselves  more  than  they  do  of  the  rich  treasures  of 
what  is  old — of  praise,  prayer,  and  song,  gathered 
through  the  centuries  of  the  Church's  history — and  not 
have  the  desire  so  strongly,  and  often  so  painfully,  ex- 
cited, to  produce  what  is  new  and  varied  at  every  ser- 
vice ?  There  should  be  in  every  form  of  worship,  how- 
ever simple,  some  permanent  basis  ;  something  of  the 
old,  of  the  familiar,  of  the  invariable  ;  some  worn  path- 
way for  the  feet  of  worshippers  to  tread  in. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.     237 

(6)  Public  worship  should  be  free.  The  great  principle 
of  freedom,  or  spontaneity,  which  is  the  peculiar  glory 
and  beauty  of  the  unliturgic  form  of  worship,  is  an  essen- 
tial element,  of  true  worship.  It  is  a  chief  source  of  its 
life  and  power.  Where  there  is  no  freedom  of  inter- 
course with  God,  no  individuality  of  thought  or  desire, 
no  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  present  want, 
sorrow,  temptation,  thankfulness,  then  how  can  there  be 
living  truth  in  worship,  or  real  communion  established 
between  God  and  the  soul  ? 

(7)  Public  worship  must  be  united  worship.  The  prin- 
ciple of  union,  or  communion — in  a  word,  the  social 
principle- — cannot  for  a  moment  be  lost  sight  of  in  the 
great  common  act  of  public  worship.  When  we  worship 
by  ourselves,  the  more  solitary  we  are,  the  better  ;  and 
we  should  "  shut  to  the  door"  and  be  alone  with  "  our 
Father  which  seeth  in  secret  ;"  but  when  a  multitude 
worship  together  in  the  common  name  of  Christ,  the 
principle  of  individualism  should  merge  itself  into  the 
higher  principle  of  Christian  love  and  communion.  All 
that  tends  to  unite  many  hearts  in  one  act,  to  make  them 
flow  together  in  one  devotional  channel,  aids  true  wor- 
ship. It  is  here,  perhaps,  that  the  greatest  want  of  the 
unliturgic  form  of  worship  is  sometimes  felt  ;  for  even  in 
the  sanctuary  of  a  common  Lord  worshippers  are  apt  to 
remain  too  independent  of  each  other,  too  individual,  too 
much  broken  up  into  separate  fragments.  One  member 
remains  unpenetrated  by  the  feeling  which  glows  in  the 
heart  of  his  next  neighbor,  and  the  whole  mass  is  not 
sufificiently  fused  together  and  made  one. 

The  public  religious  services  of  such  bodies  of  sincere 
believers  are  generally  interesting  and  profitable  in  a 
rational  point  of  view,  but  frequently  they  are  cold,  and 
apparently  undevotional.^     It  is   often   the   idea  of  the 


238  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

knowledge  of  God,  rather  than  of  the  love  of  God,  or  of 
one  another.  It  is  the  idea  of  edification  rather  than 
that  of  praise.  We  are  not  saying  that  there  is  not  as 
much  of  pure  devotion  in  this  worship  as  in  that  of  any 
other  body  of  Christian  believers  ;  but  we  are  noticing 
what  might  be  called  some  deficiencies,  in  order  to  draw 
the  thought  and  attention  of  those  who  are  coming  on 
the  stage,  as  Christian  pastors,  to  this  important  subject, 
and  to  the  remedy  of  these  deficiencies,  if  remedy  there 
is  to  be  found.  Vinet  says,  "  As  for  us,  our  worship  is 
too  much  a  confession  of  faith — a  discourse  ;  everything 
is  articulate,  everything  is  precise,  everything  explains 
itself.  The  effect  of  this  tendency  has  gone  so  far  as  to 
determine  the  idea  we  have  formed  of  temples.  We  re- 
gard temples  as  a  place  for  hearing.  We  go  to  them  to 
hear  some  one  speak."  '  He  says  again,  "  Preaching  has 
its  place  under  the  gospel,  but  it  does  not  suffocate  wor- 
ship. Our  word  is  a  prism  which  decomposes  the 
light."  ^  He  means  by  this,  we  suppose,  that  preaching 
is  analytic,  and  addressed  principally  to  the  intellect  ; 
whereas  he  would  have  more  of  simplicity  of  feeling, 
contemplation,  and  trust,  in  worship.  As  to  the  worship 
of  the  primitive  Church,  Vinet  says,  "  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  medium  between  preaching  and  devotion.  We 
see  in  it  nothing  of  the  anxious  precision  of  a  confession 
of  faith,  nothing  of  the  profusion  of  rites  of  the  Romish 
Church."  '  These  quotations  show  that  in  the  worship 
of  the  reformed  Swiss  and  French  churches  something  of 
the  same  want  is  evidently  experienced.  This  is  a  pro- 
foundly practical  question,  for  the  churches  of  New 
England  are  suffering  from  the  fact  that  men  of  culture 
and    of    undoubted    piety  sometimes   declare   that   their 


1  ••  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  180.  "^  lb.,  p.  182.  ^  j^^  p_  igj_ 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATION'S  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     239 

sympathies  and  tastes  are  not  wholly  met  by  this  form  of 
worship,  and  hence  they  feel  that  they  cannot  develop 
themselves  or  their  spiritual  life  with  perfect  freedom 
within  the  system.  It  is  easy  to  say,  in  regard  to  such, 
"  Let  them  go  ;"  but  all  kinds  of  minds  should  be  con- 
sidered, and  their  wants,  as  far  as  possible,  kindly  appre- 
ciated. The  whole  nature  of  man  should  be  satisfied 
both  in  his  worship  and  in  his  religion. 

It  is  possible,  we  think,  for  one  denomination  of  wor- 
shippers to  profit  from  whateve'r  of  good  there  is  in  other 
forms  of  worship,  even  the  most  diverse  from  its  own, 
without  losing  its  distinctive  characteristics,  or  believing, 
with  Dr.  South,  that  there  is  but  one  prayer  lacking  in 
the  Book  of  Common  Prayer ;  and  that  is,  that  the 
Prayer  Book  should  continue  to  be  used  in  public  wor- 
ship forever  ! 

It  is  sometimes  said,  and  oftener,  perhaps,  thought, 
that  there  can  be  little  of  true  worship  under  liturgical 
forms,  because  they  are  nothing  but  forms  ;  yet  devout 
members  of  liturgical  evangelical  churches  can  doubtless 
maintain  the  genuine  attractions  of  that  form  of  worship 
— that  their  liturgy  is  fitted  to  meet  the  religious  sympa- 
thies of  all  classes  of  worshippers,  as  presenting  an  em- 
bodiment of  the  great  truths  of  the  Christian  faith,  such 
as  the  incarnation,  the  atonement,  the  resurrection,  re- 
pentance, forgiveness — which  hold  up  those  truths  plainly 
to  the  view  of  all  so  as  to  enkindle  religious  feelings  ; 
and  that  in  the  regular  recurrence  of  these  words  of 
faith,  and  of  petitions  for  common  wants,  both  temporal 
and  spiritual,  there  is  devotional  power.  Here  is  the  law 
of  uniformity  of  which  we  have  spoken.  We  talk  of  how 
touching  are  old  hymns,  and  of  the  influence  of  familiar 
words  of  the  Bible,  and  of  the  moving  nature  of  old 
scenes  and  places  ;  and  in  the  same  way  devout  feeling 


240  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

runs  along  more  easily  in  familiar  words  of  prayer  and 
praise.  Thus,  although  there  is  no  strong  evidence  to 
prove  that  there  was  a  liturgical  element  in  the  primitive 
Christian  worship,  and  even  the  Lord's  Prayer  was  not 
to  be  repeated  as  a  sacred  formula,  yet  order  of  worship 
is  a  scriptural  requisition,  and  should  have  a  certain  per- 
manency for  the  greatest  spiritual  impression. 

We  are  of  the  opinion  that  in  governmental  establish- 
ments, military  and  civil,  and  large  educational  institu- 
tions, like  universities,  colleges,  and  public  schools,  a 
liturgy  combined  with  what  is  free  in  form  would  be 
d'esirable,  and  would  be  an  improvement  over  the  entirely 
spontaneous  and  unliturgical  method,  as  calculated  to 
promote  more  interest  in  public  worship  and  to  increase 
and  deepen  its  devotional  spirit.  It  would  have,  too,  an 
veducational  influence  in  building  up  the  habit  of  reveren- 
tiai'^  and  orderly  religious  thought. 

Then  \there  is  the  social  element  in  worship — the 
diffusion  of*-  the  social  principle— which  gives  all  some- 
thing to  do,  bv  uniting  all  the  congregation  in  the  re- 
sponses and  singling.  We  have  no  doubt  that  many 
pious  minds  do  mo>re  readily  worship  God  in  the  channels 
of  liturgical  forms  when  they  have  been  educated  from 
childhood  in  them,  theq,n  they  could  in  any  simpler  mode. 
We  are  also  equally  open  to  see  the  deficiencies  of  those 
methods  of  worship.  T-he  liturgical  part  of  the  service  is 
usually  too  long,  especialily  in  the  English  Church,  where, 
in  the  morning,  there  ar  e,  as  it  were,  three  services  in 
one.  That  does  not  allo\W  time  for  the  faithful  preach- 
ine  of  the  Word.  It  thru;sts  it  into  a  corner.  It  makes 
it  a  subordinate  thing,  lihen,  too,  the  absence  of  the 
spontaneous  element  is  an  ,  almost  fatal  defect.  This 
gives  little  opportunity  for  s^oiritual  growth,  for  the  ex- 
pression of  new  truth  or  fresh  feeling,  and  for  the  satis- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    241 

fyingof  the  present  emergency.  It  fixes  the  mind  on  the 
past — on  the  faith  of  the  founders  of  the  Church,  or  of 
the  makers  of  the  Hturgy.  It  tends  to  narrow  the  re- 
ligious Hfe,  and  to  lead  it  to  feel  the  want  of  no  more  re- 
ligion than'  can  be  found  in  the  forms  of  prayer.  And 
there  is,  above  all,  the  temptation  to  rest  in  the  written 
form,  and  to  think  that  when  the  prescribed  words  of 
devotion  are  uttered,  and  the  service  efone  throuo"h  with, 
one  has  truly  worshipped,  and  the  duty  is  accomplished 
— that  one  has  done  his  devotions.  As  a  matter  of  taste, 
also,  while  the  responses  and  chants  are  extremely 
devotional,  and  have,  moreover,  the  authority  of  great 
antiquity  (even  Justin  Martyr  speaks  of  an  ancient  litany 
being  responded  to  by  the  people),  the  practice  of  alter- 
nate readings  of  the  Scriptures  is  rather  unprofitable  and 
confusing  ;  nevertheless,  may  not  all  kinds  of  Christian 
disciples  at  least  study  with  profit  liturgical  forms  of 
worship  for  propriety,  dignity,  solemnity,  the  rich  flavor 
of  antiquity,  and  the  social  element  ? 

3.   We  have  not  the  space  here  to  treat  in  extenso  the 
actual    question    as    to    the    best   methods  of    increasing 
the  life,  interest,  and  fervor  of   worship  and 
of  supplying   its   more  marked   deficiencies.        How  to 

All  churches  have  felt  the   same  difficulties  ;     i""^^^^  the 
1  rr  1  1  1  ^if^  3.nd  fer- 

and  some  enorts  have  been  made  to    meet  ,     ,1- 

vor  of  public 

them.  Here  and  there,  for  example,  a  Pres-  worship, 
byterian  church  has  introduced  a  liturgical 
form  ;  and  it  might  consistent!}-  do  so,  for  the  Presby- 
terian worship  was,  at  one  time,  liturgical  ;  the  Prayer 
Book  of  Edward  VI.  was  anciently  used  in  Scotland, 
and  by  John  Knox  himself,  with  some  modifications  per- 
mitted by  Archbishop  Cranmer  ;  and  at  the  time  of  the 
Restoration,  leading  Presbyterian  divines — among  them 
Richard  Baxter — presented  an  address  to  the  throne,  to 


242  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  purport  that  they  were  satisfied  that  a  liturgy  might 
be  used,  if  it  were  conformable  to  the  Word  of  God,  and 
were  not  too  rigorously  imposed.  This  was  assented  to, 
and  an  equal  number  of  Presbyterians  and  Episcopalians 
were  appointed  to  consider  the  matter  ;  and  the  Prayer 
Book,  as  amended  at  that  time,  actually  passed  the  Eng- 
lish Parliament,  and  came  very  near  being  adopted  by 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  England,  and  afterward  in 
America. 

Something  similar  to  a  liturgy  has  likewise  been  intro- 
duced into  many  unliturgical  denominations  in  this 
country  and  in  England  ;  but  although  these  churches 
would  have  perfect  liberty  to  adopt  a  liturgy  if  they 
chose  to  do  so,  yet  it  must  be  said  that,  historically 
speaking,  a  written  and  prescribed  liturgy  seems  to  be 
opposed  to  the  original  form  and  spirit  of  such  churches. 

In  Elizabeth's  reign,  the  worship  as  well  as  the  polity 
of  the  Church,  of  all  bodies  of  the  Church,  even  of  the 
Puritan  body  at  that  timje,  was  liturgical.  The  original 
Puritans,  though  opposed  to  Popish  rites  and  ceremonies, 
were  not  opposed  to  prescribed  forms  of  public  prayer. 
The  ground  they  took  was  this,  as  set  forth  in  these 
formal  objections  to  the  English  Established  Church 
(Neal's  "  History  of  the  Puritans,"  Part  I.  p.  io6)  : 
"  Fifthly,  Though  they  did  not  dispute  the  lawfulness  of 
set  forms  of  prayer,  provided  a  due  liberty  was  allowed 
for  prayers  of  their  own  composure  before  and  after 
sermon,  yet  they  disliked  some  things  in  the  public 
liturgy  established  by  law  ;  as  the  frequent  repetition  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  interruption  of  the  prayers  by  the 
frequent  responses  of  the  people,  which,  in  some  places, 
seem  to  be  little  better  than  vain  repetitions,  and  are 
practised  by  no  other  Protestant  church  in  the  world  ;"' 
and  also  (Part  I.  p.  122)  in  the  apology  of  two  prominent 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     243 

Puritan  divines,  who  were  imprisoned  for  nonconformity. 
"  Concerning  public  worship,  we  hold  that  there  ought 
to  be  places  appointed  for  this  purpose,  and  that  there 
may  be  a  prescript  form  of  prayer  and  service  in  the 
known  tongue,  because  all  have  not  the  gift  of  prayer  ; 
but  we  would  not  have  it  patched  out  of  the  Pope's 
prescriptions  ;  but  be  the  form  of  prayer  never  so  good, 
we  affirm  that  ministers  may  not  think  themselves  dis- 
charged when  they  have  said  it  over,  for  they  are  not 
sent  to  say  service,  but  to  preach  deliverance  through 
Christ  :  preaching,  therefore,  must  not  be  thrust  out  of 
doors  for  reading.  Neither  ought  ministers  so  to  be  tied 
to  a  prescript  form  of  prayer  that  at  all  times  he  must  be 
bound,  of  necessity,  to  use  it  ;  for  who  can  draw  a  form 
of  prayer  necessar}^  for  all  times,  and  fit  for  all  congrega- 
tions ?  We  deny  not  that  there  be  various  manners  of 
prayers,  but  we  must  take  heed  that  they  be  not  long  and 
tedious  ;  wherefore  preaching,  as  it  is  the  chief  part  of  a 
minister's  office,  so  all  other  things  must  give  place  to  it." 

Those  who  broke  off  from  the  great  English  Puritan 
body,  who  were  "the  Puritans  of  the  Puritans,"  and 
from  whom  we  in  New  England  were  descended,  went, 
as  it  seems  to  us,  farther  than  this,  and  made  a  point  on 
this  very  matter  of  using  prescribed  forms  of  prayer, 
although  we  do  not  find  it  laid  down  in  so  many  words 
in  any  definite  formula  or  standard  of  the  New  England 
churches. 

The  historian  Neal  says  (Part  IV.  p.  492),  "Their 
method  of  public  worship  in  Holland  was  the  same  with 
other  Protestants  :  they  read  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  in  their  assemblies,  and  expounded 
them  on  proper  occasions  ;  they  offered  up  public  and 
solemn  prayers  for  kings  and  all  in  authority  ;  and  though 
they  did  not  approve  of  a  prescribed  form,  they  admitted 


244  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

that  public  prayer  in  their  assemblies  ought  to  be  framed 
by  the  meditation  and  study  of  their  ministers,  as  well  as 
their  sermons."  The  distinguished  minister  Barrowes 
argued  eloquently  against  set  forms  of  prayer  ;  and  this 
same  Henry  Barrowes  and  John  Greenwood,  Cambridge 
graduates  and  conspicuous  men  in  their  own  bodies,  were 
imprisoned  on  the  specific  charge  of  opposition  to  the 
Prayer  Book  as  a  form  of  public  worship. 

Cotton  Mather,  in  his  "  Ratio  Disciplina?"  (p.  46-52), 
says,  **  The  New  England  churches  have  no  liturgy  com- 
posed for  them,  much  less  imposed  upon  them  ;  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles  never  provided  any  prayer  book 
but  the  Bible  for  us.  The  first  planters  hoped  that  the 
second  coming  of  our  Saviour  will  arrive  before  there  will 
be  received  among  them  any  liber  officialis  (book  of 
authority)  but  the  sacred  Scriptures."  John  Cotton  also 
reasoned  against  liturgies,  or  "  stinted  and  set  forms  of 
prayer." 

Early  New  England  Puritan  churches  acted  on  the 
principle  that  everything  that  was  not  required  by  the 
Scriptures  was  in  the  nature  of  "  will-worship,"  as  they 
termed  it.  They  undoubtedly  carried  that  too  far  ;  but 
it  goes  to  show  what  the  primitive  doctrine  really  was. 
Those  who  live  now  are  not  bound  rigidly  to  carry  out  to 
the  letter  all  the  ideas  and  usages  of  the  fathers,  since 
they  were  but  men  ;  but  can  these  churches  adopt  an 
essentially  liturgical  form  of  worship,  and  remain  true 
historical  New  England  Christians  ?  The  Puritan  Church 
system  was,  in  its  origin,  a  protest  against  human  pre- 
scription and  formalism  in  religious  things,  and  it  had  no 
written  form  of  worship  any  more  than  it  had  a  written 
creed  or  church  polity  ;  and  whatever  written  forms  it 
now  has  are  merely  the  collected  memorials  and  pre- 
cedents of  the  usages  of  the  churches.     It  is,  in  spirit,  an 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.     245 

entirely  free  system,  and  no  written  form  in  any  particu- 
lar, not  even  one  forbidding  liturgical  worship,  can  be 
pointed  out  as  ruling  over  the  freedom  of  the  churches. 
It  would  seem,  then,  that  we  must  come  unavoidably  to 
these  general  conclusions  :  that  the  New  England  form 
of  worship,  simple  as  it  is,  is  a  true  historic  cultus  ;  also, 
that,  as  nothing  human  is  perfect,  this  form  of  worship, 
like  others,  may,  in  some  respects,  be  incomplete  ;  may 
lack  some  subordinate  elements  of  power  ;  may  still  be 
open,  here  and  there,  to  improvement,  or,  at  least,  to 
development,  without  at  the  same  time  losing  its  dis- 
tinctive ecclesiastical  characteristics. 

And  the  final  question  then  comes  :  Is  there  no  way, 
in  harmony  with  its  own  history  and  spirit,  by  which  the 
unliturgic  system  of  worship  may  supply  its  deficiencies, 
enrich  its  barrenness,  round  out  and  complete  its  simple 
ritual,  give  unity,  fulness,  and  vitality  to  its  public  wor- 
ship of  God,  not  in  an  aesthetic  sense  merely,  or  as  lend- 
ing outward  attractiveness,  but  as  affording  a  true 
medium  to  the  spiritual  devotion  of  the  people  ?  In 
other  words,  the  question  is,  whether,  in  an  essentially 
unliturgical  form  of  worship,  the  elements  of  power, 
truth,  and  beauty,  that  a  liturgical  form  may  possess, 
cannot  be  equally  secured,  and  the  evils  which  are 
wrapped  up  in  a  prescribed  form  be,  at  the  same  time, 
avoided  ?  This  is  the  interesting  and  difficult  question, 
which — in  the  presence  of  an  advancing  civilization,  of  a 
more  general  cultivation  of  the  aesthetic  sense,  of  the 
power  of  the  human  element,  which  is  making  itself  more 
and  more  felt  in  religious  things,  of  the  lowering  of  the 
high  tone  of  primitive  piety,  or  its  assuming  of  other 
phases  that  are  apparently  a  decay  of  the  highest  spiritual 
life — the  churches  of  New  England  and  the  West  are  to 
meet  and  work  out. 


246  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

We  believe  that  improvements  will  be  made,  if  made 
at  all,  in  this  form  of  worship,  not  by  hastily  introduced 
novelties  which  obtain  no  general  introduction  into  the 
churches,  but  by  changes  that  come  from  the  develop- 
ment of  true  liturgical  principles,  and  that  rest  on 
enlarged  ideas  of  religious  wants  in  worship.  Without 
being  able  here  to  enter  into  this  wide  question,  we  would 
offer  one  or  two  simple  suggestions,  having  reference 
chiefly  to  pastors,  which  might,  in  the  mean  time,  go  a 
little  way  to  supply  defects,  and  to  fill  up  some  of  the 
felt  deficiencies  of  worship. 

(i)  Pastors,  in  whose  hands  the  public  devotions  are  so 
exclusively  left,  should  receive  a  more  thorough  liturgical 
preparation,  and  should  diligently  cultivate  themselves 
in  that  respect.  The  culture  of  the  spirit  of  devotion, 
and  of  the  gift  of  fit  expression  in  prayer,  is  a  necessary 
part  of  a  minister's  qualifications,  as  a  leader  of  public 
prayer.  He  should  deeply  meditate  upon  the  best  forms 
of  public  prayer.  He  should  study  the  past.  He  should 
study  the  oldest  liturgies  of  the  Church.  He  should 
avail  himself  of  them,  and  endeavor  to  catch  something 
of  their  earnest  spirit.  He  should  endeavor  to  infuse 
more  of  the  rich  devotional  element  into  all  the  public 
service  of  God.  He  should  feel  himself  to  be  simply  a 
minister,  an  aider  of  the  people  in  religious  things,  keep- 
ing to  himself  his  individualities,  and  striving  to  have  the 
spiritual  element,  the  divine  element,  predominate  in 
the  public  services.  In  the  wording  of  his  prayer,  the 
choice  and  reading  of  hymns,  the  selections  from  Scrip- 
ture, the  general  oversight  of  the  church  music,  and  in  all 
things  relating  to  the  more  strictly  devotional  part  of  the 
service,  he  should  make  a  careful  preparation,  full  as  much 
so  as  for  his  sermon.  He  may  thus  form  a  liturgy  that 
shall  combine  order  with  freedom,  simplicity  with  fervor. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    247 

(2)  The  cultivation  of  a  reverential  spirit  in  the  people. 
The  inward  spirit  of  devotion  is  the  principal  thing  ;  but 
■whatever  tends  to  increase  this  spirit  should  be  carefully 
regarded,  especially  among  young  people.  Even  the 
outward  form  of  devotion  in  the  house  of  God  ;  the 
guarding  against  all  irreverent  acts  or  looks  ;  the  devout 
attention  given  to  all  parts  of  public  service  ;  the  idea 
manifesting  itself  in  every  way  that  it  is  a  great  thing  to 
come  into  the  presence  of  God,  and  worship  him  ;  the 
respect  shown  to  holy  things — even  these  external  mat- 
ters should  be  duly  cared  for. 

There  should  be  more  attention  paid  by  the  congrega- 
tion to  a  uniform  reverent  posture  in  the  house  of  God, 
all  standing  (as  was  the  ancient  Christian  custom  on  Sun- 
day) during  prayer,  or  else  all  actually  kneeling  or  bow- 
ing, and  the  avoidance  of  all  indecent  haste  in  concluding 
any  service,  and  in  leaving  the  sanctuary.  In  connection 
with  this,  a  pure  and  sanctified  taste  in  all  that  relates  to 
the  house  of  God  itself  which  should  be  made  as  beauti- 
ful as  it  can  be  in  the  boundaries  of  a  just  aesthetic  senti- 
ment, should  not  be  considered  as  useless.  Worship  is 
not,  indeed,  one  of  the  fine  arts,  any  more  than  preach- 
ing or  religion  is,  but  worship  should  clothe  itself  in  the 
most  appropriate  and  beautiful  forms. 

(3)  The  cultivation  of  the  social  principle  in  worship. 
Everything  that  has  a  tendency  to  increase  the  social 
spirit,  and  to  produce  real  Christian  communion,  should  be 
promoted  ;  and  perhaps  nothing  is  more  potent  than  music 
— than  diffusive  singing — to  bring  souls  into  harmony. 
The  responsive  reading  of  the  Psalms,  as  constituting  the 
most  ancient  scriptural  liturgy,  is  to  be  commended  for 
the  purpose  of  harmonizing  the  congregation  in  worship 
— of  giving  them  a  part  to  perform  in  the  service,  and  of 
awakening  a  deeper  glow  of  devotional  feeling. 


248  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

There  may  be  also  the  judicious  introduction  of 
chorals,  anthems,  the  chanting  of  the  Tc  Dcuni,  and 
above  all  the  chanting  of  the  Psalms,  to  increase  the 
legitimate  attractions  of  public  worship  and  the  spirit  of 
devotion.  The  responsive  chanting  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Psalms  we  should  far  prefer  to  the  alternate  reading 
of  them  ;  and  if  this  should  lead  to  a  more  elaborate  but 
still  scriptural  liturgy,  or  to  the  adoption  of  the  liturgy  of 
the  English  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  or  of  the  Lutheran 
service,  with  some  modifications,  and  combining  this  with 
the  free  element,  it  would  not  be  displeasing  to  the  judg- 
ment and  taste  of  many  good  Christian  people. 

(4)  The  reading,  as  in  the  primitive  Church,  of  more, 
and  of  the  more  devotional  portions,  of  the  Bible — of  the 
Psalms,  and  the  prophets,  and  the  spiritual  parts  of  the 
Old  Testament  ;  and  added  to  this  the  practice  of  a 
more  simple  and  spiritual  style  of  preaching,  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  so  that  this  may  be  also  a  devotional 
part  of  public  worship — that  it  may  have  for  its  end  to 
awaken  in  the  soul  the  supreme  affection  for  God, 

(5)  The  revival  of  pure  faith,  the  baptism  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  of  fire,  which  would  bring  into  our  churches  a 
new  spirit  of  consecration,  of  joy  in  the  worship  of  God, 
of  delight  in  his  praise,' 

Sec.  15.    The  Lord's  Day. 

Worship,  whether  of  a  private  or  social  nature,  is  not 
only  a  human  instinct  manifested  in  all  ages  among 
pagans  and  Christians,  but  it  is  an  act  enjoined  by  divine 
command.  The  public  worship  of  God  is  a  divine  in- 
stitution required  to   be  observed  under  many  express 


'  On  the  subject  of  Christian  worship  in  the  first  century,  see  De  Pres- 
sens^'s  "  Early  Christianity,"  p.  361  scq. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     249 

forms  in  the  Old  Dispensation  as  well  as  implicitly  in  the 
New,  where  the  common  prayer  of  believers  in  the  name 
of  Christ  is  accompanied  by  the  common  gift  of  the  Spirit 
suffusing  hearts  with  new  life  and  love.  Public  worship 
chiefly  embodies  itself  in  the  worship  of  the  "  Lord's 
day,"  when  it  is  not  a  parenthetical  but  an  orderly  act, 
forming  a  great  department  of  the  Christian  pastor's 
duties,  a  central  point  about  which  his  thoughts  and  labors 
revolve  ;  and  we  would  therefore  endeavor,  in  what  is 
said,  not  to  weaken  but  to  strengthen  the  right  considera- 
tion of  the  day,  to  aid  in  the  true  conception  and  observ- 
ance of  the  "  Lord's  day."  The  subject  is,  in  some  re- 
spects, hard  to  treat  theoretically  (as  every  one  knows 
who  has  studied  it),  though  practically  not  so,  at  least 
to  the  man  of  spiritual  mind.  Any  theory  that  we  may 
adopt  is  open  to  objections,  either  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment or  the  New  Testament  point  of  view  ;  but  we  wish, 
above  all,  to  come  at  the  apostolic  and  Christian  idea  of 
the  day,  for  we  live  in  the  light  and  walk  by  the  law  of  the 
grace  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  well  for  young  pastors  to 
have  some  rational  theory,  some  settled  base  to  rest  upon 
in  this  matter  ;  and  if  the  view  we  take  may  not  be  high 
enough  for  some  or  low  enough  for  others,  it  may  have 
discovered  a  middle  ground  for  which  there  are  both 
Scripture  and  reason.  In  all  theological  and  religious 
questions  we  should  assuredly  strive  to  be  true  rather 
than  orthodox,  for  orthodoxy,  as  every  one  knows  who  is 
conversant  with  Church  history,  is  a  compromise. 

There  are   four  main  theories  of  the  Sabbath  which 
have  been,  or  which  may  be,  held. 

(i)  That  the  Sabbath,  as  a  positive  law  or  Fo"'-theories 
...  .  ,  1        T,  T  1         '"  regard  to 

mstitution,    given    through      Moses    to    the    ^j^^  Sabbath 

Hebrew  nation,    together    with    the    whole 

Hebrew  dispensation  and  law,  was  abolished  by  the  com- 


250  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ing-  of  Christianity  ;  that  we  might  now  just  as  well  ac- 
cept circumcision,  the  law  of  the  priesthood,  animal 
sacrifice,  or  the  keeping  of  the  Passover,  as  the  keeping 
of  the  Sabbatic  command.  This  is,  essentially,  the  Ger- 
man view.  Luther  and  the  continental  reformers,  as  a 
general  rule,  held  this  theory.  Luther  declared  that  the 
apostles  gave  up  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  and  changed  the 
day  of  their  public  assembling  together  from  the  seventh 
to  the  first,  on  purpose  to  free  men  from  the  yoke  of 
Judaism.  (Comm.  Gal.  i  :  10  :  "Ye  observe  days,  and 
months,  and  times,  and  years.")  Modern  German  theo- 
logians, as  did  Neander  and  Tholuck,  have  maintained 
the  same  opinion  ;  which  was  favored  by  many  of  the 
older  English  theologians,  such  as  Prideaux,  Paley,  and 
Richard  Baxter.  The  German  as  well  as  the  English 
theologians,  while  they  believed  that  the  Sabbath  was 
abolished  by  Christianity,  upheld  mainly  the  religious 
character  of  the  day  as  a  beneficent  institution,  spiritually 
advantageous  for  the  people.' 

(2)  That  the  Jewish  or  Mosaic  Sabbath,  enjoined  in  the 
decalogue,  with  many  of  its  positive  requirements  and 
conditions,  especially  those  in  regard  to  work,  was  recon- 
firmed by  Christianity,  there  being,  however,  a  transfer- 
ring of  days  from  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  to  the 
first.  In  this  theory  the  essential  thing  is  that  a  seventh 
period  of  time  should  be  set  apart  for  sacred  observance 
and  the  purposes  of  divine  worship.  This  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  the  Scotch,  English,  and  American  theory 


'  Neander  stated,  in  conversation  with  the  writer,  that  in  a  moral  and 
spiritual  point  of  view  the  religious  observance  of  the  day  is  most  use- 
ful, but  that  it  had  not  a  particle  of  positive  Scriptural  obligation  upon 
the  Christian  conscience,  and  it  was,  he  thought,  especially  in  England, 
made  an  oppressive  yoke. 


THE  rASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     251 

of  the  Sabbath.     It   is  what  has  been  peculiarly  known 
as  the  Puritan  Sabbath. 

(3)  That  the  Sabbath  is  an  ecclesiastical  day,  upheld 
chiefly  by  the  authority,  rules,  and  customs  of  the 
Church,  for  the  purpose  of  the  public  formal  worship  of 
God.  This  is,  we  believe,  virtually,  the  Roman  Catholic 
view,  and  is  also  that  of  a  party  in  the  English  Church 
who  represent  the  older  Laudian  and  High  Church 
school.  Archbishop  Whately,  though  not  belonging  to 
this  school,  favored  this  purely  ritualistic  view  of  the 
day. 

(4)  A  fourth  theory,  which  seems  to  us  to  be  nearer 
the  truth  than  any  mentioned,  although  held  with  re- 
serve and  still  open  to  modification  with  greater  light,  is 
this  :  that  while  the  old  Jewish  Sabbath  as  an  institution 
for  the  Hebrew  nation,  and  fitted  to  their  peculiar  historic 
needs  and  circumstances,  was  done  away  by  the  new  law 
and  spirit  of  Christianity,  what  is  called  in  the  New 
Testament  the  "  Lord's  day,"  or  the  day  that  we  now 
term  "the  Christian  Sabbath,"  and  which  was  held  on 
the  first  day  of  the  week  to  commemorate  the  Lord's 
resurrection,  was,  so  far  as  apostolic  usage  went,  recom- 
mended for  the  observance  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  and 
that  though,  with  strict  legal  positiveness,  this  day  does 
not  literally  rest  on  the  Mosaic  law — being  in  fact  a 
different  day — yet  it  derives  a  certain  moral  sanction 
from,  and  finds  an  original  type  in,  the  fourth  command 
of  the  decalogue  ;  and  that  both  the  Jewish  and  the 
Christian  Sabbath  harmonize  with  a  law  of  nature,  or 
what  may  be  called  a  primeval  law  or  arrangement  of 
creation,  made  by  God  in  reference  to  the  wants  and 
constitution  of  man  ;  and  that  this  original  law  of  the 
periodicity  of  work  and  rest  was  reaffirmed  by  Christ,  the 
Redeemer  of  humanity,  who  liberated  the  rest-day  from 


252  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

its  Jewish  restrictions,  and  caused  this  period  of  rest  and 

worship  to  be  beneficently  adapted  to  man's  best  good  of 

body  and  mind,  so  that  it  should  become  a  symbol  of 

the  eternal  rest  of  the  people  of  God.     In  a  word,  the  old 

Jewish  Sabbath  was  done  away  as  a  legal  enactment,  but 

was  widened,  spiritualized,  and  made  a  means  of  moral  and 

religious  improvement  in  the  Christian  Sabbath  ;  it  was 

freed  from  the  law,  and   made   a  blessed  privilege  of  the 

gospel  ;   it  met  the  higher  spiritual  instincts  and  wants  of 

man,  the  need   of  cessation   from  labor,  and  above  all  of 

religious  worship,  of  rest  in  God  ;  it  became  humanity's 

joyful  rest-day. 

The  objections  to  this  view,    we  grant,    are    strong. 

One  objection  is  that  the   Old  Testament  Sabbath  has 

nothing  to  do  with  a  law  of  nature,  but  is  a 

Objections.  .  -,•, 

positive  institution — as  seen  m  passages   like 

that  in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  Ezekiel,  tenth  and 
twelfth  verses,  where,  speaking  of  the  Sabbath,  it  is 
treated  as  dating  not  from  creation,  but  from  the  time  of 
Moses:  "Wherefore  I  caused  them  to  go  forth  out  of 
the  land  of  Egypt,  and  brought  them  into  the  wilderness. 
And  I  gave  them  my  statutes,  and  showed  them  my 
judgments,  which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  live  in  them. 
Moreover  also  I  gave  them  my  Sabbaths,  to  be  a  sign  be- 
tween me  and  them,  that  they  might  know  that  I  am 
the  Lord  that  sanctify  them."  There  is  a  similar  pas- 
sage in  Neh.  9  :  14.  It  might  be  answered  that  this 
language  refers  back  to  the  sixteenth,  twentieth,  and 
thirty-first  chapters  of  Exodus,  where  the  Sabbath  or  the 
term  Sabbath  is  first  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  where 
the  actual  giving  of  the  Sabbatic  law  to  the  people  of 
Israel  is  described.  When  we  examine,  however,  these 
historical  passages  in  Exodus,  we  find  that  the  institution 
of  the  Sabbath  is  always  spoken  of  as  resting  back  on  some- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     253 

thing  still  earlier  ;  and  what  is  this  but  the  primitive  law 
or  principle  ?  Thus,  in  the  language  of  the  Fourth  Com- 
mand, itself,  ending  with,  ' '  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made 
heaven  and  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  that  in  them  is,  and 
rested  the  seventh  day  ;  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the 
Sabbath  day,  and  hallowed  it,"  the  reason  of  it  goes  back 
to  the  example  of  God  in  creation.  Also  in  Exodus 
31  :  16-17  •  "  Wherefore  the  children  of  Israel  shall  keep 
the  Sabbath,  to  observe  the  Sabbath  throughout  their 
generations  for  a  perpetual  covenant.  It  is  a  sign 
between  me  and  the  children  of  Israel  forever  :  for  in  six 
days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  and  on  the 
seventh  day  he  rested  and  was  refreshed."  In  Ezekiel 
and  Nehemiah  there  is  nothing  that  absolutely  forbids  the 
idea  of  an  earlier  natural  law  or  principle.  Indeed,  the 
passage  referred  to  in  Nehemiah  seems  to  imply  that 
God's  sanctified  day  existed  previously,  and  was  then  only 
brought  to  mind  or  "  remembered  "  with  additional 
impressiveness. 

De  VVette  translates  the  passage  in  Nehemiah  :  "  Und 
deinen  Jieiligen  RuJietag  thatest  du  ihnen  kiind — Thy  holy 
day  of  rest  thou  madest  known  unto  them" — i.e.  thy  day 
proclaimed  in  the  earliest  period  of  the  human  race,  thou 
didst  make  known  and  restore  unto  them  by  Moses. 

But  without  attending  now  to  other  objections,  let  us 

look   at    the   Biblical    history,   going   back    to    the    first 

possible    germ    in    Genesis,    for   we     cannot 

1  1     1  1        11      •  ,  r      History. 

Ignore  the   remarkable  allusions  to  a  day  of 

rest  appointed  from  the  beginning,  however  we  may  view 

these,  whether  symbolically  or  institutionally  : 

Gen.    2  :    i,  2,  3,    "  Thus  the  heavens  and  the  earth 

were   finished,    and  all  the  host   of  them  :  And  on  the 

seventh  day  God   ended   his  work  which  he  had  made. 

And   God   blessed   the   seventh  day,    and   sanctified   it  ; 


254  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

because  that  in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which 
God  created  and  made."  We  will  not  enter  into  the 
qucBstio  vexata  of  the  "  days  "  of  creation  ;  and  whatever 
difficulty  there  may  be  in  that  question,  in  this  passage 
from  2  Genesis,  by  fair  rules  of  interpretation,  a  day  of 
limited  time  was  sanctified  as  a  day  of  holy  rest,  to  stand 
as  a  monument  of  God's  having  finished  his  work  of 
creation — finished  it  in  six  days  or  six  periods  of  time. 
Because  God  rested  from  his  work,  man  should  rest 
from  his  work — that  is  the  rationale  of  the  day  of  rest 
which  is  given.  The  law  of  alternate  labor  and  rest  is 
announced  as  a  divine  law  of  humanity.  This  passage  in 
Genesis  2  :  i,  2,  3  certainly  was  written  after  man's 
creation,  and  after  man  had  entered  upon  the  established 
system  of  times  and  seasons  by  which  the  world  should 
be  regulated. 

It  is  true  that  in  one  sense  the  whole  period  of 
humanity's  life  is  that  seventh  day  sanctified  by  God,  in 
which  he  himself  ceased  from  creating,  in  the  creation 
of  man,  his  crowning  work  ;  and  man  himself  ever  finds 
his  rest,  his  true  rest,  in  God. 

But  these  words  of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  as  we  have 
said,  seem  to  apply  to  some  orderly  system  of  nature, 
some  creation  in  time  into  which  man  had  already  been 
ushered.  The  system  of  nature,  the  clock  of  time,  so  to 
speak,  was  set  to  the  law  of  periodic  work  and  rest, 
and  one  might  almost  say,  without  being  accused  of 
fancifulness,  to  the  septennial  period.  For  example,  the 
moon,  established  for  a  sign  and  season  to  man's  abode, 
the  earth,  was  marked  in  its  four  distinct  phases  by  the 
seventh-day  law,  which  at  the  same  time  divides  and 
unites  the  month.  The  interesting  philologic  discovery  in 
the  cuneiform  inscriptions  of  the  valley  of  the  Euphrates, 
of  a  seventh-day  astronomical  division  of  time,  and  even 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIOXS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     2^ 


30 


of  a  seventh  rest-day,  dating  anterior  to  the  founding  of 
the  Babylonian,  Chaldean,  and  Semitic  empires,  and 
deriving  its  origin  from  that  widespread  Turanian  race- 
civilization  which  now  is  so  wonderfully  developing  its 
existence  under  the  archaeologic  and  ethnologic  research 
of  these  days,  is  certainty  one  new  beam  of  side-light 
e\adence  let  in  suddenly  upon  the  historic  truth  of  Old 
Testament  records.  As  the  number  seven,  in  anticu:t>-, 
implied  unitj'  both  in  things  infinite  and  f.r.ire.  f :  r  y 
in  the  infinite  week  of  God's  creation,  iri  ::.  the  nnite 
week  of  our  common  time.  That  tiiis  la.:.guage  in 
Genesis  does  thus  apply  to  a  week  of  common  time,  and 
that  one  day  was  set  apart  to  hallowed  rest  from  the  be- 
ginning, seems  to  be  hinted  at,  although  this  suggestion 
we  grant  is  verj"  uncertain  proof.  It  is  merely  the  proof 
of  coincidence,  though  it  may  be  something  more.  If 
Adam  received  this  law,  did  his  immediate  descendants 
continue  to  regard  it  ?  There  appears  to  be  some  slight 
fragmentary^  evidence  that  they  did.  We  would  not 
make  too  much  of  it.  (Gen.  4  :  2-3)  "  And  Abel  was  a 
keeper  of  sheep,  but  Cain  was  a  tiller  of  the  ground. 
And  in  process  of  time  it  came  to  pass,  that  Cain  brought 
of  the  fruit  of  the  ground  an  offering  unto  the  Lord." 
This  expression  "in  the  process  of  time,"  is,  literally 
(2'-' rp"?),  "at  the  end  of  da\-3 ;"  and  may  it  not 
have  been  at  the  end  of  six  working  days,  or  on  the 
seventh  day  hallowed  by  God  for  rest,  and  for  the 
simple  ritual  of  primitive  worship  ?  Further  on,  Noah, 
at  three  separate  times  (twice  at  all  events,  and  one 
other  seventh  day  inter\-al  is  highly  presumable*,  in  send- 
ing forth  the  dove  from  the  ark,  took  the  seventh  day 
for  this  important  and  solemn  question  to  God,  if  his 
wrath  were  abated  and  his  curse  removed  from  the  earth. 
(Gen.  8  :  10-12  •  "  And  he  staved  vet  other  seven  davs  : 


256  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  again  he  sent  forth  the  dove  out  of  the  ark,  and  he 
stayed  yet  other  seven  days  ;  and  sent  forth  the  dove  ; 
which  returned  not  again  unto  him  any  more."  The 
peace  of  the  dove's  wings  that  bore  the  olive  branch 
seemed  to  settle  upon  the  world  of  nature.  Down  later 
we  find  that  the  Israelites,  the  chosen  people,  before 
they  reached  Mount  Sinai  in  their  wanderings  in  the 
wilderness,  hallowed  the  seventh  day.  They  rested 
from  work  and  travel  on  that  day  ;  and  God  with- 
held the  supply  of  manna  on  the  seventh  day,  and  sent 
a  double  supply  on  the  first  (Ex.  16  :  23-30).  In  this 
passage  the  "  Sabbath"  is  for  the  first  time  distinctive- 
ly mentioned  ;  but,  as  we  have  remarked,  a  reference 
is  clearly  made  in  this  passage  to  something  that 
had  gone  before,  to  some  prior  divine  ordinance.  The 
words  inverse  23,  "  This  is  that  which  the  Lord  hath 
said,"  may  refer  back  to  what  God  had  said  (Genesis 
2  :  2,  3)  to  the  first  parents,  about  the  day.  After  this 
we  perceive  that  Moses  dated,  or  marked,  the  seventh 
day  of  rest  from  the  time  of  the  fall  of  the  manna,  or 
from  this  miraculous  deliverance  of  God's  people — there 
being  six  work  or  travel  days  between.  The  peculiar 
Hebrew  Sabbath  dates  from  the  falling  of  the  manna, 
and  was  afterward  incorporated  into  the  decalogue. 

The  Fourth  Commandment  (Exod.  20  :  8-1 1)  is  as 
truly  a  commandment  regarding  labor  as  it  is  regarding 
rest.  There  shall  be  six  days  of  work  and  one  day  of 
rest.  The  first  is  enjoined  as  really  as  the  last.  The 
underlying  principle,  going  back  to  God's  words  in 
Genesis,  seems  to  be  that  of  the  periodic  alternation  of 
labor  and  rest.  Moses  states  this  as  the  natural  basis  of 
the  Sabbath  law. 

In  regard  to  the  Mosaic  law  we  would,  however,  say 
generally   that   it   is   a   false  though   common   idea    that 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATION'S  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    257 

Christianity  is  a  moral  system  drawn  out  from  Judaism 
or  the  Old  Dispensation.  It  is,  on  the  con- 
trary,  above  all,  a  moral  and  spiritual  sys- 
tern  drawn  out  from  Christ — and  here  with 
him,  and  in  what  he  was  and  did,  rests  its  authority  and 
power.  The  Spirit  of  Christ  is  its  law.  Whatever  Christ 
said  or  did,  or  by  his  Spirit  caused  his  apostles  to  say  or 
do — -this  is  our  supreme  principle  of  conduct  as  Chris- 
tians. The  law  engraved  on  stone,  though  glorious,  was 
the  law  of  death,  and  was  exceeded  and  superseded  (2 
Cor.  chap.  3)  by  that  which  was  more  glorious — viz.,  the 
law  of  righteousness  and  life  in  the  gospel  ;  and  it  cannot 
therefore  form  the  source  or  the  authoritative  headspring 
of  Christianity.  We  are  as  Christians  no  longer  under 
the  schoolmaster  Moses  (Gal.  3  :  23,  24),  but  under  the 
true  Lawgiver  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  We  will  not  dis- 
cuss the  Fourth  Commandment,  because  by  the  terms  of 
our  theory  the  "  Lord's  day"  does  not  rest  upon  this 
command  immediately  or  positively.  The  Mosaic  Sab- 
bath, as  set  forth  in  the  fourth  command  of  the  dec- 
alogue, has  positive  reference  to  the  observance  of  the 
seventh  day  of  the  week.  That  is  iterated  and  reiterated 
in  the  Mosaic  law.  It  was  a  legal  institution  to  Israel, 
or  it  was  right  to  Israel,  because  it  was  positively  com- 
manded to  Israel,  although  undoubtedly  it  had  a  more 
primitive  natural  foundation,  and  has  also  a  real  moral 
foundation,  as  we  believe.  We  do  not  therefore  discuss 
whether  the  Fourth  Commandment  contained  a  moral 
principle,  or,  in  other  words,  whether  it  was  right  in 
itself.  Whatever  has  a  reason  in  it  remains.  Every  true 
moral  principle  of  the  old  Mosaic  law  has  been  re- 
enacted  in  the  Christian  gospel,  even  as  Christ  bound  the 
whole  law  up — its  essence  and  spirit — in  two  imperishable 
principles  :   "  Jesus  said   unto  him,  Thou  shalt  love  the 


258  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind.  This  is  the  first  and  great  com- 
mandment. And  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  Thou  shalt 
love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  commandments 
hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  ;"  and  if  the  Fourth 
Commandment  contained  a  moral  principle  (although  its 
positive  and  temporal  part  relating  to  the  people  of  Israel 
may  have  been  done  away),  that  moral  principle  was  re- 
confirmed by  Christianity,  since  Christ  came  not  to 
destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it.  We  will  only  say,  how- 
ever, that  the  moral  element  of  the  Fourth  Command- 
ment seems  to  us  especially  to  relate  to  religious  worship 
— to  the  keeping  alive  of  that  worship  of  God  among 
men,  which,  while  here  in  time,  seems  to  be  connected 
with  the  necessity  of  a  regular  period  of  holy  rest,  re- 
ligiously observed — hence,  we  think,  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment does  contain  a  certain  moral  sanction,  reiter- 
ating the  natural  law  established  from  the  beginning,  and 
having  reference  to  the  nature,  constitution,  and  wants  of 
man,  and  is  also  a  type  and  model  of  the  "  Lord's  day," 
or  the  Christian  Sabbath.  Even  its  humane  or  human 
character  has  hardly  yet  been  sufficiently  understood,  and 
ought  not  to  be  overlooked.  We  see  it  in  such  a  passage 
as  Deut.  23  :  25,  "  When  thou  comest  into  the  standing 
corn  of  thy  neighbor,  then  thou  mayest  pluck  the  ears 
with  thine  hand  ;  but  thou  shalt  not  move  a  sickle  into 
thy  neighbor's  standing  corn" — these  words  were  applied 
by  Christ  himself  to  the  J  ewish  Sabbath. 

The  indestructible  principle,  we  think,  which  is  con- 
tained in  the  Sabbatic  law,  and  which  is  essentially  re- 
affirmed in  a  more  spiritual  meaning  by  Christ,  is  the 
principle  of  worship.  The  recognition  of  God — the  formal 
recognition  of  him  by  the  people  as  their  Ruler,  their 
Friend,  and  the  true  Portion  of  their  souls — is  here  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELA  TIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     259 

germinal  moral  principle  which  Christ  fulfilled  and  per- 
fected, far  beyond  indeed  the  positive  seventh-day  enact- 
ment which  dropped  away,  and  which  was  as  a  thorny 
stock  to  the  pure  flower  that  blooms  from  it.  Worship 
and  rest  :  these  in  fact  are  one,  since  worship  is  commun- 
ion with  God,  peace  through  God,  harmony  with  God, 
rest  in  God. 

Dr.  Arnold  of  Rugby,  whom  no  one  will  accuse  of  a 
Sabbatarian  spirit,  and  who  held,  as  we  conceive,  both 
liberal  and  rational  views  of  the  day,  thus  defended  him- 
self from  the  charge  of  violating  the  Sabbath. 

"  Surely  I  can  deny  the  charge  stoutly  and  in  toto  ; 
for  although  I  think  that  the  whole  law  is  done  away 
with,  so  far  as  it  is  the  law  given  on  Mount  Sinai  ;  yet  so 
far  as  it  is  the  law  of  the  Spirit,  I  hold  it  to  be  all  bind- 
ing ;  and  believing  that  our  need  of  a  Lord's  day  is  as 
great  as  ever  it  was,  and  that  therefore  its  observance  is 
God's  will,  and  is  likely,  as  far  as  we  see,  to  be  so  to  the 
end  of  time,  I  should  think  it  most  mischievous  to 
weaken  the  respect  paid  to  it.  I  believe  all  that  I  have 
ever  published  about  it  is  to  be  found  at  the  end  of  my 
twentieth  sermon  in  the  first  volume  ;  and  as  for  my 
practice,  I  am  busy  every  Sunday  from  morning  till 
evening,  in  lecturing  the  boys,  or  preaching  to  them,  or 
writing  sermons  for  them.  One  feels  ashamed  to  men- 
tion such  things,  but  the  fact  is,  that  I  have  doubled  my 
own  work  on  Sunday,  to  give  the  boys  more  religious  in- 
struction ;  and  that  I  can,  I  hope,  deny  the  charge  of  the 
libel  in  as  strong  terms  as  you  would  wish." 

Coming  to  the  New  Testament,  we  find  that  our  Lord 

himself,  who  was  born  a  Jew  under  the  law, 

during  his  life  on   earth  observed   the   Sab-  ^ 

.  .  Testament, 

bath.    I.e.,   the    Jewish  Sabbath.      He  more 

than  once  opposed  the  Jews  upon  their  interpretation  of 


26o  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  Sabbath  law,  but  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  proclaim- 
ing the  true  law,  the  right  interpretation,  the  real  spirit 
of  the  command.  He  declared  that  "the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath."  He  did  not 
reaffirm  a  Sabbatic  religion,  but  a  religion  that  ended  in 
righteousness  and  charity.  He  declared  by  precept  and 
example  that  it  was  right  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath 
day  ;  that  the  requirement  not  to  work  did  not  forbid 
works  of  necessity  and  of  mercy,  and  that  the  original  law 
was  based  on  nature  and  human  wants.  He  declared 
himself  to  be  "  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  day,"  thus  set- 
ting forth  his  authority  to  interpret  it  and  rule  over  and 
in  it  for  the  good  of  man.  On  this  day,  as  in  the  begin- 
ning, man,  he  said,  should  be  treated  humanely,  justly, 
mercifully  ;  should  be  relieved  from  his  toil  and  heavy 
burdens,  and  should  enter  and  enjoy  the  rest  of  his  God. 
The  Jews  had  lamentably  perverted  the  original  law, 
making  its  formal  observance  an  end  instead  of  a  means — 
a  grievous  task  and  a  meritorious  righteousness.  Christ 
brought  out  once  more  the  human  principle  of  the  Sab- 
bath—that it  was  made  for  man — not  for  the  Jew  only, 
and  not  for  the  performance  of  religious  ceremonies 
only,  but  for  the  rest,  renovation,  and,  above  all,  spiritual 
refreshment  and  delight  of  the  whole  human  race— the 
offspring  of  God.  He  made  it  universal,  when  before  it 
was  national. 

Christ  and  the  apostles  observed  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
while  Christ  lived  ;  and  some  of  the  Jewish  converts  con- 
tinued doubtless  to  observe  it  to  the  end  of  their  lives. 
But  after  the  Lord's  death  and  resurrection,  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  we  hold,  by  our  theory,  went  with  other  things 
belonging  to  the  Jewish  dispensation.  A  new  day,  how- 
ever, partaking  of  the  free  spirit  of  the  gospel,  came 
gradually  into  vogue  through  the  divinely-guided  instinct 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    261 

and  example  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  and  which  in  some 
true  sense  may  be  called  the  Christian  Sabbath,  or  a  day- 
set  apart  for  the  purpose  of  religious  worship  ;  and  though 
not  founded  institutionally  or  positively,  on  the  Jewish 
Sabbath  law,  and  not  having  perhaps  a  formal  divine  in- 
stitution (for  the  Christian  religion  is  a  spiritual  religion, 
with  few  actual  institutions),  it  took  its  conceptional 
mould  and  its  periodic  character  from  the  ancient  Sab- 
bath. It  is  not  a  yoke,  like  the  first.  Its  observance  is 
less  outward  than  inward  and  spiritual.  The  first  day,  or 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  by  this  theory,  did  not  pass  over 
into  the  other  day,  though  both,  as  we  have  said,  were 
observed  by  the  early  Christians  (who,  nationally,  were 
Jews),  but  "  not  for  the  same  reasons  ;  for  they  were  not 
the  same  days,"  the  Jewish  being  distinctively  the  sev- 
enth day,  the  Christian  being  distinctively  the  first  day 
of  the  week.  If  indeed  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  binding 
on  the  Christian  world,  then  it  should  be  observed  by  us 
on  the  seventh  day  and  not  the  first,  and  then  the  minute 
directions  and  all  the  dire  penalties  regarding  it  should  be 
scrupulously  followed  out.  Exodus  35  :  1-3,  "  And 
Moses  gathered  all  the  congregation  of  the  children  of 
Israel  together,  and  said  unto  them.  These  are  the  words 
of  which  the  Lord  hath  commanded,  that  ye  should  do 
them.  Six  days  shall  work  be  done,  but  on  the  seventh 
day  there  shall  be  to  you  an  holy  day,  a  Sabbath  of  rest 
to  the  Lord  ;  whosoever  doeth  work  therein  shall  be  put 
to  death.  Ye  shall  kindle  no  fire  throughout  your 
habitations  upon  the  Sabbath  day." 

Working  upon  the  Sabbath  should  be  followed  by 
death  ;  and  we  should  have  no  fire  in  our  houses  on  that 
day — if  the  strict  Jewish  Sabbatic  law — "  a  statute  for 
Israel  "  as  it  is  called — were  of  obligation  for  all  people 
and  time. 


262  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

We  do  not  believe  that  the  disciples  waited  for  any 
special  revelation  on  the  subject,  or  that  they  had  any. 
We  do  not  suppose  that  there  was  any  formal  and  distinct 
transferring  of  the  Sabbath  from  one  day  to  the  other  ; 
and  there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  observance  of  the 
two  days — the  Jewish  and  Christian  Sabbaths — continued 
conjointly  for  some  time,  since  some  relics  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbatic  ritual  remain  in  the  ancient  Christian  liturgies. 
Evidently  also  the  Jewish  Christians  made  controversy 
and  trouble  on  this  point.  They  wished  to  continue  to 
observe  the  Jewish  Sabbatic  day,  as  well  as  to  observe 
other  rules  and  precepts  of  the  Hebrew  law.  For  this 
very  cause  that  passage  in  Romans  14  :  1-6  was  written. 
Like  the  Old  Testament  regulations  concerning  eating  or 
diet,  the  apostle  did  not  actually  forbid  the  Jewish  con- 
verts to  do  these  things,  saying,  Let  every  man  be  guided 
by  his  own  conscience  and  not  judged  by  man  :  "  One 
man  esteemeth  one  day  above  another  ;  another 
esteemeth  every  day  alike.  He  that  regardeth  the  day, 
regardeth  it  unto  the  Lord  ;  and  he  that  regardeth  not 
the  day,  to  the  Lord  he  doth  not  regard  it  ;"  but  he 
would  not  have  those  disciples  build  their  new  Christian 
hope  or  faith  upon  these  legal  observances.  He  treated 
them  sensibly  and  kindly,  just  as  true  Christian  disciples 
who  have  different  views  of.  duty,  and  perhaps  of  the 
Sabbath  day  itself,  are  to  be  treated  now.  Doubtless 
many  things  led  naturally  and  irresistibly  to  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  new  day.  A  writer  in  the  Theological 
Eclectic  (May  and  June,  1867)  has  remarked  that  the 
very  circumstances  of  the  closing  days  of  our  Lord  led  to 
this — on  the  Jewish  seventh  day  our  Lord  was  in  the 
tomb  of  darkness  and  death,  and  there  was  and  could 
have  been  no  day  of  rest  and  joy  to  the  primitive 
Church.      It  was  a  day  of  gloom   and  trouble  ;  but  when 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    263 

he  rose  from  the  tomb,  then  they  praised  and  worshipped 
God,  and  entered  into  his  holy  rest  rejoicing.  Another 
writer  accounts  for  it  in  another  way  by  supposing  that, 
being  Jews,  the  disciples  assembled  on  Saturday  evening, 
or  the  evening  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  to  eat  the  Lord's 
Supper,  but  disorders  arising  from  intemperate  eating 
and  drinking,  it  became  necessary  to  have  the  regular 
meal  eaten  first  at  home,  and  in  consequence  the  Lord's 
Supper  was  delayed  until  midnight,  and  then  until  early 
morning  on  the  first  day  of  the  week  ;  and  thus  the  first 
day  of  the  week  became  from  the  first  gradually  conse- 
crated to  the  purpose  of  assembling  together  for  celebrat- 
ing the  Lord's  Supper,  and  for  all  purposes  of  public 
worship,  until  it  began  to  be  called  "  the  Lord's  day," 
and  was  adopted  by  the  Christian  Church  as  "  a  begin- 
ning of  days,"  and  was  solemnly  observed  with  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Eucharist,' 

The  Jewish  Sabbath,  as  a  Mosaic  institution,  dated 
from  the  day  the  manna  fell  from  heaven,  as  it  was 
natural  to  do  in  celebrating  God's  so  great  deliverance  of 
his  people  ;  but  the  Christian  Sabbath,  or  the  "  Lord's 
day,"  dated  from  the  day  the  Lord  ascended  to  heaven, 
marking  an  infinitely  higher  and  more  joyful  act  of  God's 
interposing  mercy. 

Before  proceeding  to  the  New  Testament   record  as 

confirming  the  Lord's  day,  we   will  state,   very  briefly, 

some  of  the  arguments    against  the  actual 

transferring  of  one  day  to  the  other,  or  of   Arguments 

the    Jewish   to   the    Christian    Sabbath.     A      ^^^^^^ 

transferring 
short  summary  of   these    objections    is  the       of  day. 

following  : 

I.   While  it  is  sometimes  arg-ued  that  the  New  Testa- 


'  Contemporary  Review,  No.  i,  vol.  1. 


264  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ment  "  Lord's  day"  was  intended  to  refer  literally  to  the 
"Sabbath,"  because  called  in  Is.  58  :  13,  "My  holy 
day,"  it  might  be  answered  that  if  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
were  meant,  2d/3/3dTov,  a  well-known  word,  would 
have  been  used. 

2.  Scripture  says  very  little  about  it,  and  nowhere 
states  the  fact  of  transferrence — the  omission  seems  fatal. 
We  have  named  hypotheses  to  account  for  the  natural 
change.  Yet  if  we  can  prove  that  the  inspired  apostles 
did  mark  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  a  day  for  meeting 
together  for  religious  worship,  for  the  celebration  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  for  charitable  collections,  and  for  every 
purpose  for  which  a  holy  day  was  and  had  been  observed 
— is  there  not  a  strong  presumption  in  favor  of  their  hav- 
ing adopted  the  "  Lord's  day?" 

3.  The  Lord's  day  is  never  confounded  in  the  New 
Testament  with  the  "  Sabbath,"  and  was  a  day  of  a 
different  character  and  spirit,  in  many  respects,  from  the 
Jewish  Sabbath.  There  is  no  doubt  that  our  Christian 
Sunday  is  a  Christian  institution,  probably  established 
by  the  apostles  and  always  observed  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week  by  the  Christian  Church.  It  is  a  day  of  rest, 
and,  ecclesiastically  and  religiously  regarded,  of  public 
worship,  devoted  to  religious  instruction,  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  Eucharist,  and  of  almsgiving. 

4.  The  positive  declarations  of  the  apostle  Paul  and 
other  passages  explicitly  or  implicitly  oppose  the  observ- 
ance of  days  and  Sabbaths.  '  The  language  in  these  pas- 
sages is  strong  and  difficult  to  be  done  away  ;  if,  how- 
ever, we  hold  to  the  authoritative  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath,  there  seem  to  be  but  two  suppositions, 
one  of  which  only  can  be  true  : 

(i)  That  the  apostles  by  precept  and  example  did 
themselves  institute  a  day,  not  the  ancient  Sabbath,  but 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    265 

a  new  clay,  and  consecrated  this  as  the  Christian  holy 
day,  like  the  former  Sabbath  hebdomadal,  and  in  its  main 
tone  and  spirit  religious,  but  having  many  marked  differ- 
ences from  the  Hebrew  Sabbath,  and  that  this  day  has 
since  been  observed  by  the  Christian  Church  ;  or, 

(2)  That  our  Christian  Sunday,  or  "  Lord's  day,"  is  only 
a  change,  or  transferring  of  the  day  from  the  seventh  to 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  draws  its  absolute  authority 
from  the  Mosaic  institution,  modified  and  purified  of  its 
Jewish  forms.  Our  theory  leans  decidedly  to  the  first  of 
these  views. 

Let  us  now  consider  some  of  the  reasons  which  lead  us 
to  believe  that   the  Apostolic  Church   estab- 
lished the  "  Lord's  day,"  and  that   they  ob-     Probability 

served  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  the  day  ^  ^^ 

tone  estab- 
of  the  Lord's  resurrection,  for  this  holy  day.      Ushment  of 

We  do  not  offer  this  scriptural  proof  as  at    the  first  day. 
all  conclusive  (many  New  Testament  scholars 
reject  it   altogether),  or  as  an   interpretation  not  open  to 
criticism,  but  as  certainly  strong  in  its  coincidences. 

We  are  to  show  the  scriptural  presumption  that  the 
apostles  did  take  the  first  day  of  the  week  to  be  the 
"  Lord's  day,"  or,  if  we  may  so  call  it,  the  Christian 
Sabbath. 

John  20  :  I,  2,  3  show  us  conclusively  that  the  Lord's 
resurrection  took  place  in  the  early  night  or  morning  of 
the  first  day  of  the  week. 

John  20  :  19,  "  Then  the  same  day  at  evening,  being 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut, 
where  the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the  Jews, 
came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto  them. 
Peace  be  unto  you."  Here  they  were  assembled,  it  may 
'be  presumed,  for  prayer  and  religious  worship. 

John    20  :  26,  "  And    after   eight   days,    again  his   dis- 


266  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ciples  were  within,  and  Thomas  with  them" — here  is  a 
second  religious  assembhng  of  the  disciples  in  the  same 
place,  signified  by  the  word  "  bgoo^'"  "  therein,"  on  the 
eighth  day  after  the  resurrection  ;  or,  is  it  not  the  next 
first  day  of  the  week  ?  The  Germans  have  something 
of  the  same  idiom,  "  This  Friday  over,"  which  includes 
the  two  Fridays  in  counting,  making  eight  days.  This 
idea  of  counting  in  the  two  terminal  days  corresponds 
with  the  old  Roman  method  of  reckoning  time.  The 
nones  were  nine  days  from  the  ides,  reckoned  inclusively. 
Thus,  suppose  we  take  the  third  of  March  :  this  is  a  day 
occurring  before  the  nones  of  March,  which  happens  on 
the  seventh.  Now,  three  from  seven  leaves  four  ;  but 
the  Romans  reckoned  both  the  days  in,  so  that  they 
would  call  the  third  of  March  not  the  fourth,  but  the 
fifth  day  before  the  nones.  As  Jews  also,  the  early 
Christians  were  used  to  a  seventh  period  division  of 
time  ;  and  would  it  not  have  been  perfectly  natural  for 
them  to  say  "  after  eight  days,"  counting  the  days  they 
met  upon,  thus  honoring  and  marking  the  two  days  of 
solemn  meeting  ?  This  is  strengthened  by  the  common 
idiom  found  in  the  Old  Testament,  2  Chron.  29  :  17, 
"  Now  they  began  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  to  sanc- 
tify, and  on  the  eighth  day  of  the  month  came  they  to 
the  porch  of  the  Lord  ;  so  they  sanctified  the  house  of 
the  Lord  in  eight  days."  Who  can  doubt  here  that  two 
Sabbaths  were  meant,  or  two  seven  days'  period  of  time  ? 
Lev.  23  :  36,  "  On  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a  holy  con- 
vocation ;"  23  :  29,  "  and  on  the  eighth  day  shall  be  a 
Sabbath."  No  less  than  eleven  times  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment "  eight"  or  "  eighth"  is  applied  to  the  Sabbath  or 
the  day  of  holy  convocation.  And  so  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, Luke  9  :  28,  "  And  it  came  to  pass  about  an  eight 
days  after  these  sayings,  he  took   Peter  and   John    and 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    267 

James,  and  went  up  into  a  mountain  to  pray."  The  use 
of  "  ooaei,"  "  about,"  in  this  passage,  has  a  bearing  upon 
the  use  of  "  eight,"  connected  so  frequently  as  it  is  with 
the  days  of  Christian  public  worship — signifying  as  it 
does,  doubtless,  the  seventh  period  of  time  including  the 
two  terminal  days.  " /Aerd,"  "after  those  sayings," 
with  the  accusative,  means  from  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  period  of  time  used. 

On  the  day  then  spoken  of  in  the  text  we  are  com- 
menting upon  in  John  2,  were  the  disciples  blessed  by  the 
presence  of  Jesus  himself.  Here,  if  we  wish  a  sanction 
for  the  change  of  days,  we  have  it  in  the  presence  of 
Christ  at  the  assembling  on  the  first  day  of  the  week. 
The  particularity  with  which  the  Jirst  and  the  eighth  day 
are  mentioned,  together  with  the  fact  of  the  Lord's  own 
risen  presence,  would  seem  to  set  forth,  by  an  implied 
but  still  impressive  divine  authority,  that  tJiis  was  the 
day  hereafter  to  be  observed  by  the  Christian  Church. 
Indeed,  some  have  contended,  that  as  in  the  Hebrew  law 
the  original  day  of  holy  rest  was  changed  from  the  first 
to  the  seventh  of  the  week,  so  Christianity  restored  the 
primitive  first  day  ;  but  this  is  not,  we  conceive,  material 
to  the  question. 

In  entire  conformity  to  this  idea,  that  the  first  day  of 
the  week,  however  the  change  took  place,  had  come  to  be 
adopted  as  "  a  beginning  of  days,"  as  the  day  of  public 
Christian  worship,  we  find  that  the  apostles  and  the  first 
Christians  continued  to  observe  this  day.  In  Acts  20  : 
6,  7,  it  is  said  that  when  Paul  and  his  fellow-laborers 
came  to  Troas,  where  was  a  Christian  church,  "they 
abode  seven  days,  and  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
when  the  disciples  came  together  to  break  bread,  Paul 
preached  unto  them,  ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow,  and 
continued  his  speech  until   midnight."     This  passage  is 


268  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

peculiarly  interesting.  Here  the  Christian  Sabbath 
follows  six  secular  days,  the  only  difference  being  that 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  the  eighth  day,  it  may  be, 
in  its  relation  to  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  is  spoken  of  as  the 
day  of  its  regular  celebration. 

On  this  day,  the  first  of  the  week,  the  feast  of  the 
Lord's  Supper  was  celebrated,  that  feast  which  was  to  last 
until  the  second  coming  of  Christ  ;  and  there  was  also 
preaching  on  that  day.  Paul  indeed  preached  so  long 
that  it  was  daybreak  before  the  sermon  was  concluded. 
Then  in  Rev.  I  :  lo,  "I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's 
day" — does  not  this  evidently  refer  to  this  first  day  of 
the  week,  when  there  was  "the  breaking  of  bread," 
preaching,  and  worship — especially  as  the  breaking  of 
bread  is  called  (i  Cor.  lo  :  21)  "  the  Lord's  table"  ? 

In  Acts  21  :  4  it  is  stated  that  Paul  and  his  com- 
panions tarried  at  Tyre  seven  days,  having  doubtless 
reference  to  the  Sabbath — which  they  "  stayed  over,"  as 
we  would  say — for  in  the  fifth  verse  it  says,  "  And  when 
we  had  accomplished  the  days,  we  departed  and  went 
our  way." 

In  I  Cor.,  16  :  2  Paul  writes  to  that  church  :  "  Upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you  lay  by  him 
in  store  as  God  hath  prospered  him,  that  there  may  be 
no  gathering  when  I  come."  Clearly  this  "collection" 
for  the  Jerusalem  church  was  upon  the  Christian  Sabbath  ; 
for  this  is  strongly  confirmed  by  the  Jewish  custom  of 
casting  into  the  Lord's  treasury  every  Sabbath  day  in  the 
temple  and  synagogue.  The  Jewish  custom  of  laying  up 
for  the  Sabbath  almsgiving  is  a  well-proven  fact,  and  is 
followed  to  this  day.  Hebrew  Christians  would  naturally 
continue  the  custom. 

To  this  New  Testament  argument  might  be  added  the 
pretty  well  established  proof  (which,  however,  we  will  not 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    269 

here  adduce),  that  the  day  of  Pentecost  itself,  when  the 
disciples  were  praying  together,  was  on  the  first  day  of 
the  week  ;  and  this  was  the  day,  when,  it  is  said,  after  the 
apostolic  preaching,  "  there  were  added  to  the  church 
three  thousand  souls" — a  blessed  type  of  many  a  succeed- 
ing Christian  Sabbath  when  converting  power  has  fol- 
low^ed  the  preached  Word. 

We  have  thus  noticed  six  or  seven  distinct  times  where 
it  is  mentioned  with  particularity  that  on  "  the  first  day 
of  the  week,"  or  the  seventh  day  after  six  days  of  secular 
work,  the  early  disciples  and  churches  of  Jesus  assembled 
themselves  for  public  worship.  And  in  the  apostolic 
writings  the  proper  conduct  of  these  religious  assem- 
blages for  worship  is  given  us.  Is  it  said.  Why  was  not 
the  change  of  days  formally  announced  ?  There  was  no 
need  of  it  ;  it  ivas,  and  that  was  announcement  enough. 
It  was  not,  in  one  sense,  of  sufificient  importance  for  a 
formal  decree  of  heaven  to  be  made  ;  and  all  we  are  con- 
cerned to  know  is.  Did  it  take  place  }  The  Jewish  dis- 
ciple was  suffered  gradually  and  naturally  to  begin  to 
observe  the  Christian  Sabbath,  without  jar  or  jealousy  ; 
although,  as  has  been  before  remarked,  there  is  some 
evidence  that  there  was  friction  in  respect  to  the  change 
of  days  on  the  part  of  the  Judaizing  portion  of  the 
Church.  But  we  have  already  given  the  historical  sur- 
mises respecting  this  change. 

Now  it  is  objected  to  the  keeping  of  any  holy  day  by 
Christians  (we  have  referred  to  this),  that  Paul  (Col. 
2  :  16)  reprobates  the  keeping  of  "an  holy 
day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sab- 
bath days."  But,  let  us  ask,  to  whom  is  the  apostle  here 
writing  ?  To  Jewish  Christians  at  Colosse,  who  were 
following  the  lead  of  Judaizing  teachers  who  were 
striving  to  bring  back   Levitical   rites,  and  a  formal  and 


270  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

self-righteous  manner  of  observing  sacred  days  in  the 
Christian  Church  ;  and  were  also,  perhaps,  in  a  thoroughly 
Jewish  spirit,  insisting  upon  the  rigid  observance  of  the 
old  Jewish  Sabbath.  Paul  was  inveighing  against  the 
false,  legal,  narrow,  and  superstitious  observance  of  days, 
even  of  the  Sabbath  day,  and  also,  it  may  be,  against  the 
influence  of  pagan  ideas  in  the  Church  respecting  the  dies 
fasti  and  dies  infasti  of  the  heathen  cultiis,  associating 
religion  with  certain  days,  and  places,  and  making  those 
alone  holy.  If  this  was  not  the  case,  or  if  Paul  con- 
sidered the  keeping  of  any  day  to  be  absolutely  done 
away,  then  the  apostle's  own  observance  of  the  Jewish 
Sabbath,  after  he  had  become  a  Christian,  would  be  an 
inconsistent  act. 

At  the  present  time,  in  the  corrupt  Christian  churches, 
where  the  same  error  of  consecrating  holy  days  and  holy 
places,  of  sprinkling  churches  and  altars  with  holy  water, 
and  of  taking  the  name  for  the  thing,  is  seen,  the  same  lan- 
guage of  the  apostle  might  be  used  ;  and  we  do  not  know 
but  the  same  language  might  be  used  against  those  Chris- 
tians now  who  make  a  Sabbatic  religion,  who  regard  the 
Sabbath  superstitiously,  "  Sabbatizing"  as  the  Jews  did, 
and  who  have  a  Sunday  religion  as  they  have  Sunday 
clothes,  who  have  a  conventional  conscience  and  a  con- 
ventional piety.  Now,  in  regard  to  this  passage  upon 
which  we  are  commenting  (Col.  2  :  i6,  17) — "  Let  no  man 
therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of 
a  holy  day,  or  of  the  new  moon,  or  of  the  Sabbath  days  : 
which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come  ;  but  the  body  is 
of  Christ" — the  answer  that  it  was  directed  against  the 
abuse  of  a  holy  day,  not  its  true  use,  and  that  Christ 
himself  and  his  apostles  continued  to  honor  even  the 
Jewish  Sabbath,  is  perhaps  the  best  answer  ;  but  to  our 
mind  it  is  not  an  absolutely  satisfactory  answer,  and  the 


THE  rASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    271 

passage  still  remains  the  strongest  objection  to  the  whole 
view  that  any  particular  holy  day  was  established.  Such 
a  passage  seems  to  be  almost  a  prohibition  of  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sabbath.  "How  can  you  suffer  your- 
selves," the  argument  is,  "to  be  in  captivity  to  outward 
ordinances,  when  you  have  died  with  Christ  to  earthly 
things,  and  are  risen  with  Christ  and  live  (according  to 
your  true  life)  with  Christ?"  Yet,  if  this  language  be 
taken  literally,  it  might  be  said  that  all  forms  and  ordi- 
nances of  the  Christian  Church  must  be  given  up,  and  a 
religion  without  outward  form  or  organization,  purely 
subjective  and  spiritual,  must  be  substituted   in  its  place. 

IMow,  if  we  connect  this  mass  of  testimony  respecting 
the  observance  by  the  Apostolic  Church  of  a  period  of 
holy  rest,  in  the  Gospels  and  the  Acts,  with  the  lan- 
guage employed  in  Rev.  i  :  10,  "  being  in  the  spirit  on  the 
Lord's  day,"  referring  evidently  to  Christ,  we  have  some 
good  reason  to  believe  that  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
marked  by  the  Lord's  resurrection,  was  the  one  apos- 
tolically  chosen  for  the  Christian  Sabbath.  \\\  fact,  in 
the  words  of  another,  "  we  do  not  read  of  any  solemn 
meeting  of  the  Church  except  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week." 

Having  noticed  the  scriptural,  let  us  just  glance  at  the 

patristic  argument,  and  then  go  on  to  a  brief 

remark    upon     the     evidences     drawn    from 

argument. 
nature  and  morality. 

Proof  might  be  adduced  from  the  earliest  writings  of 
the  Church  fathers  that  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  our 
Sunday,  was  observed  from  the  apostolic  times  down,  as 
the  day  of  public  religious  worship,  or,  if  we  choose  to 
call  it  so,  the  Christian  Sabbath,  centuries  before  the  im- 
perial decree  of  Constantine,  A.D.  321,  fixed  it  legally  as 
the  day.      In  the  earliest  centuries  the  day  was  called,  as 


2-2  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  "  the  Lord's  day."  The 
famihar  passage  from  Justin  Martyr  in  his  Apology  (i. 
^"j^,  presented  to  Antoninus  Pius  A.D.  150,  is  precisely  to 
this  point.  He  says  :  "  Christians  assembled  on  the  day 
of  the  sun,  because  on  this  first  day  God  made  the 
world,  and  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead. 
On  the  day  called  Sunday  there  is  a  meeting  in  one  place 
of  all  who  reside  whether  in  the  towns  or  in  the  country, 
and  the  memoirs  of  the  apostles  and  the  writings  of  the 
prophets  are  read.  The  reader  having  concluded,  the 
presiding  ofificer  delivers  a  discourse.  We  all  assemble 
together  on  Sunday,  because  it  was  on  the  same  day 
Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  rose  from  the  dead."  But 
Justin  Martyr  denies  that  the  Christians  continued  to 
keep  the  Sabbath.  He  said,  "  We  do  not  Sabbatize," 
and,  in  fact,  there  is  no  absolutely  conclusive  proof  to  show 
that  in  the  very  earliest  post-apostolic  ages  of  the  Church 
the  Christian  Sabbath  was  regularly  kept,  or  that  there 
was  not  even  work  done  upon  that  day  as  upon  others. 
Christianity  was  looked  upon  as  a  spiritual  religion,  which 
set  free  from  religious  forms  and  prescribed  rules,, 
although  it  was  undeniably  the  custom,  in  imitation  of 
the  Apostolic  Church,  to  hold  public  worship  at  stated 
times,  and,  as  we  believe,  regularly  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  Barnabas,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  his  epistle, 
says,  "  We  joyfully  celebrate  the  eighth  day,  in  memory 
of  the  resurrection  of  our  Saviour  ;  because  it  was  on  that 
day  that  he  rose  again."  Ignatius,  ad  Magnes  (c.  9)  says, 
"  We  honor  this  day  of  the  Lord,  this  day  of  the  resur- 
rection, as  the  most  excellent  of  days."  Tertullian  adds 
the  idea  that  the  character  of  the  holy  day  was  opposed 
to  business,  to  everything  which  gave  anxiety  and  care, 
or  to  all  secular  work.  Clement  of  Rome,  Irenaeus, 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  and   many  others   of  the  earliest 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVORSFIIP.    273 

apostolic  fathers,  testify  to  the  same  thing.  Origen  says 
it  is  one  of  the  marks  of  the  perfect  Church  to  keep  the 
Lord's  day.  How  could  this  have  happened,  unless  it 
were  an  apostolical  custom  ? 

Sunday,  a  name  taken  from  the  classic  Roman 
calendar — "  dies  solis,''  "  the  day  of  light,"  "  the  day  of 
gladness" — seemed  to  the  early  Christians  a  fit  day  and  a 
fit  name  for  this  sacred  and  joyful  festival — commemora- 
tive of  the  rising  of  "  the  Sun  of  righteousness."  There 
is  strong  additional  proof  in  the  expression  in  Pliny's 
letter  concerning  the  Christians  of  Bithynia,  "  quod  essent 
soliti  stato  die  ante  Inccvi  convcnire. ' '  Mosheim  says  of 
this,  "  The  churches  of  Bithynia,  mentioned  by  Pliny, 
devoted  but  o?ie  stated  day  to  their  public  worship  ;  and 
beyond  all  controversy  that  was  what  we  call  '  the  Lord's 
day,  or  the  first  day  of  the  week.'  "  ' 

This  indeed  is  a  "  day  of  light,"  a  day  to  "  rejoice  and 

be  glad  in."      Here,  doubtless,  has  been  a  conscientious 

error  in    the    modern    Scotch,    English,  and 

American   observance  of  the  Christian  Sab-       _  , ,    ^, 

Sabbath. 

bath,  that  the  element  of  glad  rest  has  been 
left  out — the  joyful  character  of  the  day.  The  Puritan 
Sabbath  was  introduced  into  England  in  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  ;  and  it  was,  later  on,  a  protest 
against  the  unlimited  license  and  debauchery  of  the  Eng- 
lish King  James  and  Laudian  Sabbath  ;  and  the  stamp 
of  austerity  it  then  received  has  continued  until  this  day 
among  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans.  This  sternness 
has  been  a  conservative  element,  and  the  Puritan  Sab- 
bath has  made  our  own  country  what  it  is.  It  has  put  the 
iron  into  its  blood.  It  has  done  a  noble  work.  It  has 
been,  on  the  whole,  a  great  institution,  moulding  the  peo- 


'  "  Mosheim,"  v.  i.   p.  S5,  note. 


274  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pie  of  this  land  Into  the  moral,  religious,  and  law-abiding 
people  that  they  are.  But  this  has  been  aside  some- 
what from  the  Christian  Sabbath,  which  commemorates 
the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  of  life  from  the  dead,  an 
event  of  the  highest  joy.  The  spirit  of  the  Lord's  day  is 
really  that  of  exalted  triumph,  of  praise  and  exultation. 
It  is  a  festival  day.  It  commemorates  the  reconciliation 
of  earth  and  heaven.  It  Is  glad  rest  from  all  care  and 
fear — rest  in  God.  It  gives  free  scope  to  the  glorious 
hopes  of  the  gospel.  It  is  a  time  for  the  unbinding  of 
oppressive  burdens,  for  the  relaxing  from  narrow  cares, 
for  outgoings  of  benevolent  emotion  and  effort,  for  kin- 
dline  anew  humane  social  intercourse,  for  the  exercise  of 
all  good  and  heavenly  feelings,  and  for  the  sending  up  of 
heartfelt  songs.      It  Is  a  feast  and  not  a  fast  day. 

And  here  comes   In  the  pastor's   responsibility,  not  to 

suffer  this  day  to  lose  this  tone  of  Christian  freedom,  and 

to  degenerate  into  the  exclusive  superstitious 

The  pastor's  jg^jgh  Sabbath,  as  it  came  to  be  in  Christ's 
responsi- 
bilitv        time.     The  pastor,  with   the  help  of  God's 

comforting  Spirit,  is  to  exorcise  this  narrow 
idea,  and  to  unbind  the  holy  hours  of  the  Lord's  day, 
to  make  it  a  blessing  and  a  joy  to  the  people — the  hap- 
piest day  of  the  week — a  time  for  the  refreshment  of  both 
body  and  soul,  for  the  doing  of  good  deeds,  for  the 
warming  of  the  hearts  and  replenishing  of  the  houses  of 
the  poor,  for  the  cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  charity  and 
brotherly  love,  and,  above  all,  for  the  free  offering  of  the 
rich  gifts  of  the  gospel  to  sinful  souls.  The  human 
clement  as  well  as  the  divine,  the  genial  as  well  as  the 
holy,  should  be  marked  in  the  Christian  Sabbath.  But 
the  religious  element  of  public  worship,  of  the  praise  of 
God,  of  holy  rest  In  Him,  Is  the  great  and  primary  idea  of 
the  day,  since  the  good  and  happiness  of  man,  for  whom 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    275 

the  Sabbath  was  made,  is  best  secured  by  true  reh'gion 
and  the  service  of  God.  The  rehgious  element  cannot 
be  taken  out  of  the  Lord's  day  without  its  total  giving 
up  and  abolition. 

There  should  be  in  the  day  sunshine  from  heaven  shin- 
ing down  on  human  cares  and  sorrows,  and  melting  them 
away.  The.  most  mature  and  spiritual  Christian  requires 
chiefly  spiritual  rest  ;  illiterate  laboring  men  and  little 
children  require  also  bodily  rest  and  refreshment  ;  and  we 
are  inclined  to  go  to  rational  limits  here,  each  case  being 
judged  by  itself.  We  would  say  with  F.  W.  Robertson 
that  "  The  inestimable  value  of  a  day  of  physical  repose 
and  spiritual  rest  is  granted  ;  but  the  details  of  that  must 
be  modified  to  circumstances."  The  worn-down,  hard- 
driven  weavers  of  Lancashire  and  the  pale,  half-stifled 
poor  of  London,  demand  some  different  privileges  and 
treatment  from  the  free  and  healthy  working  classes  in 
our  own  country.  The  sight  of  green  fields  and  the 
breathing  of  a  purer  air  may  be  at  times  an  absolute 
necessity  to  them,  when  it  would  not  be  so  among  the 
working  classes  with  us.  There  is  here,  we  think,  a 
margin  left  to  liberty  in  the  Christian  idea  of  the  day 
(because  it  is  not  a  rigid  yoke)  that  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
did  not  allow.  The  bill  allowing  the  Boston  Public 
Library  to  be  opened  on  Sunday  was  at  its  first  trial 
defeated  in  the  Massachusetts  Legislature.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Putnam,  one  of  the  Boston  Representatives,  de- 
fended the  measure  "  in  the  name  of  God  and  of  true 
religion,  and  in  the  name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth."  We 
notice  this  to  show  the  striking  fact  that  this  discussion 
occurred  in  the  very  home  and  seat  of  the  Pilgrims,  where 
once  the  least  violation  of  the  Levitical  idea  and  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath  was  severely  punished,  sometimes 
with  imprisonment  in  a  cage  like  a  wild  beast.      Whether 


276  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

this  particular  act  in  respect  to  Sunday  popular  privi- 
leges should  have  been  passed  or  no,  we  hold  to  a  broad 
construction  of  the  Saviour's  language  in  respect  of  the 
Sabbath — that  it  should  be  a  day  not  only  devoted  to  the 
spiritual  and  eternal  interests  of  man,  but  also  to  his 
higher  intellectual,  physical,  and  purely  temporal  in- 
terests, in  so  far  as  these  do  not  absolutely  conflict  with 
the  religious  and  holy  character  of  the  day. 

Do  we  indeed  prize  the  fruits  of  Christ's  intercession 
for  man,  the  blessed  gains  of  Jesus'  redem_ptive  work 
for  us,  then  on  the  "  Lord's  day"  we  should  surely 
manifest  this  thankfiil  spirit — this  sense  of  inner  recon- 
ciliation and  harmony  of  the  heart  v\^ith  God — this  peace 
which  the  world  cannot  give.  In  Christ  is  rest.  We 
could  keep  no  true  Sabbath  rest  out  of  Christ.  Christ's 
sacrifice  for  all  men  enables  all  men  to  enter  into  this 
holy  rest.  It  is  the  day  commemorative  of  the  victorious 
power  of  Christ,  when  he  put  all  evil  and  sorrow  under 
his  feet.  This  general  view  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  is 
confirmed  by  the  high  authority  of  the  learned  Nitzsch 
("  System  of  Christian  Doctrine,"  pp.  357-359). 

Let   us   now  look   for  a   moment   at   the  testimony  of 

nature   to   the   law  of  periodic  work  and  rest.      Nature 

seems  to  have  decreed  that  there  must  be  an 

es  imony  o    ^||-gj.j^^^JQj-,  q{  labor  and  rest,  and  the  law  that 
nature. 

regulates  this,  by  various  kinds  of  evidence, 

would  appear  to  be  the  seventh-day  law — at  least  that  is 
about  the  average  law.  We  once  had  the  personal  testi- 
mony of  an  old  Rocky  Mountain  team-driver,  accustomed 
to  driving  teams  for  thousands  of  miles  on  a  stretch, 
that,  starting  with  an  ox-team,  at  the  same  time  and 
point  with  those  who  drove  horses,  and  always  observing 
Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest,  he  invariably  arrived  at  their 
common   point  of  destination   a  little  before  the  others. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    277 

although  they  did  not  make  a  point  of  stopping  on  Sun- 
day. Students  and  business  men  who  keep  the  intel- 
lectual fire  burning  all  the  time,  as  did  William  Pitt,  tak- 
ing no  day  of  rest,  are  consumed  like  him  at  a  compara- 
tively early  age.  Ministers  likewise  should  remember 
this,  and  should  endeavor  to  prepare  themselves  for  the 
more  purely  intellectual  labors  of  Sunday  so  as  not  to 
break  its  rest-law  by  extravagant  brain-work  on  that  day. 
While  Christian  preachers  and  Christian  laborers  should 
work  for  Christ  on  that  day,  yet  even  this  work  should  be 
in  some  sense  a  joy  and  a  rest.  We  have  thought  that 
there  was  too  much  of  wearisome  labor  on  the  part  of  our 
modern  Sunday-school  teachers  and  good  church  mem- 
bers, especially  females,  and,  above  all,  children,  on  the 
Lord's  day.  One  would  not  repress  zeal,  but  the  law  of 
rest  should  not  be  despised  or  disregarded.  The  bur- 
dened brow  should  be  unbent,  the  lines  of  care  should  be 
swept  away,  the  restless  heart  and  aching  head  should 
find  repose  on  the  bosom  of  Fatherly  Love.  It  is,  how- 
ever, a  profound  truth,  that  spiritual  activity,  doing 
deeds  of  pure  goodness,  working  even  for  the  eternal 
welfare  of  men,  has  not,  or  should  not  have,  that  laborious 
and  almost  demoralizing  character  to  it  that  mere  worldly 
business  has.  The  soul  is  refreshed  by  its  contact  with 
supernatural  truths  as  the  body  is  in  summer  heats  by  a 
dip  into  the  great  ocean. 

This  law  of  periodic  rest  is  so  entirely  in  consonance 
with  nature's  law  that  there  is  reason  to  think  that  if 
there  had  been  no  revealed  law,  man,  or  the  most  intelli- 
gent man,  would  have  soon  discovered  the  law  which 
nature  has  herself  set  in  the  waxing  and  waning  moon. 
He  would  also  have  found  out  the  law  of  the  periodic 
need  of  rest  from  work  ;  and  this  would  most  likely 
have  settled  into  a  seventh  period  ;  as  indeed  it  actually 


27S  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

did  in  the  ancient  division  of   time  among  many  pagan 
nations. 

In  the  lively  controversy  which  recently  sprang  up  in 
Scotland  and  England  in  relation  to  the  running  of  Sun- 
day cars  on  the  North  British  Railway  line,  the  ground 
taken  by  the  favorers  of  a  free  observance  of  Sunday,  even 
on  their  part,  admits  or  presupposes  the  need  of  a 
periodic  complete  rest  to  the  laboring  classes,  that  they 
should  be  allowed  and  aided  to  obtain  this  relaxation 
by  the  opening  of  public  parks  and  gardens,  and  by  the 
running  of  special  Sunday  trains  to  these  places.  The 
principle  of  the  necessity  of  rest  from  work,  however  it 
may  be  by  some  thought  to  be  erroneously  carried  but, 
is  the  very  foundation  of  their  argument.  There  is  no 
doubt  in  regard  to  the  principle  that  in  a  country  like 
ours,  where  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  has  been 
the  immemorial  custom  of  the  vast  majority  of  the  in- 
habitants, the  civil  law,  while  it  has  no  right  to  im- 
pose the  observance  of  such  a  day  on  any  of  its  citizens, 
should  protect  Christian  citizens  in  the  enjoyment  of 
"  that  measure  of  public  peace  and  order  which  a  decent 
respect  for  the  day  demands."  Even  in  European 
countries,  where  the  Puritan  Sabbath  is  not  at  all,  or  even 
the  Christian  Sunday  is  hardly  recognized,  there  is  be- 
ginning to  be  a  movement,  on  economic  and  humani- 
tarian grounds,  in  favor  of  some  such  time  of  popular  rest 
from  ordinary  labor.  At  the  Roman  Catholic  congress 
at  Malines  some  years  since,  Father  Hyacinthe  spoke  on 
the  education  of  the  working  classes,  and  his  remarks, 
coming  from  such  a  source,  were  an  eloquent  argument 
in  favor  of  the  Protestant  Sunday.  "Often,"  he  said, 
"  on  Sunday,  passing  through  our  great  towns,  whither  I 
am  called  to  bear  the  Word  of  God,  I  see  the  smoking 
pavements,  the  dust  that  rises,  I  hear  the  thousand  noises 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    279 

of  toil,  and  I  say  to  myself,  'It  is  France  that  least 
observes  Sunday. '  They  reply  to  me,  '  Respect  liberty, 
respect  conscience.'  I  will  say  no  harm  of  liberty  ;  I 
love  it,  but  I  do  not  confound  it  with  license.  No,  we 
do  not  desire  to  impair  liberty.  But  there  is  another  ob- 
jection— the  interests  of  industry.  Let  us  examine  two 
industrial  powers,  which  are  fully  our  equals,  if  they  do 
not  surpass  us — England  and  the  United  States.  In 
London,  in  the  great  city,  where  floods  of  busy  men  fill 
the  streets  in  the  midst  of  the  repeated  and  incessant 
sound  of  the  echoes  of  labor,  there  occurs  every  week  a 
day  which  recalls  to  me  those  of  my  childhood.  The 
gigantic  machine  which,  on  the  eve  of  that  day,  puts  all 
in  movement,  stops  ;  the  bells  alone  are  heard — Protes- 
tant bells,  I  know,  but  they  so  well  remember  to  have 
been  Catholic  while  awaiting  the  hour  to  become  so  again 
that  they  send  their  sweet  melodies  heavenward.  It 
seems  as  if  the  very  fogs  of  the  Thames  and  of  the  ocean 
had  grown  lighter. 

"  Let  me  not  be  told  that  the  Sunday  rest  in  England 
Is  a  remnant  of  feudalism,  soon  to  be  swept  away  by  the 
breath  of  liberty.  Behold  in  America  that  strong  and 
Anglo-Saxon  race,  which  certainly  is  not  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  and  which  has  in  its  constitution  the  most  com- 
plete liberty.  It  also  observes  the  Sunday  while  waiting 
to  become  Catholic,  and  sends  across  the  ocean  the  same 
answer  as  England — the  silence  of  God  at  the  blasphe- 
mies of  men.  No  ;  we  do  not  ask  that  the  Sunday 
should  be  imposed  upon  the  people  by  laws  of  which  the 
application  would  offer  more  inconvenience  than  advan- 
tage. We  only  ask  that  the  public  works  shall  scrupu- 
lously respect  the  Sunday,  and  force  the  individual  to 
blush  before  the  state  ;  that  the  princes  of  industry,  of 
thought,  of   eloquence,    shall   act   in   concert  ;  that   they 


28o  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

shall   create   fruitful   currents   in   the   public  mind  ;    and 

little  by  little  things  will  change  their  aspect,  noise  will 

die  away,  work  will  be  suspended,  and   God  will  have  his 

day,  and  the  people  likewise." 

4.   In  regard  to  the  moral  argument  we  will  not  enlarge 

very  much.      It  is  not  necessary  to  do  so.      As  pastors  of 

souls    the    "  Lord's    day"    is    the    Christian 
]V[ora,l 

^     minister's  battle-day  to  fight  the  Lord's  bat- 
argument.  . 

tie  against  the  rhighty,  and  all  things  should 

be  in  readiness  to  deliver  the  battle  so  as  to  secure  the 
victory.  It  is  also  the  day  of  the  public  worship  of 
God.  The  moral  idea  of  worship,  as  has  been  said, 
forms  the  underlying  principle  upon  which  such  a  period 
of  holy  rest  is  founded.  Here  is  the  carrying  out  of  the 
Fourth  Commandment  in  so  far  as  it  is  of  permanent 
moral  obligation  ;  and  we  might  add  that  were  there  no 
periodic  time  set  apart  for  the  public  worship  of  God, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  very  fact  and  idea  of 
worship  would  be  lost  to  the  race,  and  that  the  Christian 
Church  and  Christian  society  would  fall  into  moral  dis- 
integration ;  nor  could  any  other  division  of  time  that 
carried  no  divine  sanction  with  it  well  take  its  place  or 
long  continue  to  be  observed.  Until  the  earth  arrives  at 
a  millennial  state,  it  would  seem  as  if  the  hallowing  of  a 
set  day  for  the  regular  public  worship  of  God  and  for  the 
proclamation  of  his  gospel  to  man,  were  necessary  to  keep 
alive  the  spirit  of  worship  and  the  religious  life  of  the 
world  ;  and  yet  this  is  not  saying  that  all  days  should 
not  be  equally  holy,  that  spiritual  worship  should  not  be 
everywhere  diffused,  that  religion  should  be  bound  up  in 
the  observance  of  Sunday — that  it  should  be  a  Sunday 
religion — that  it  should  not  be  a  religion  deeper  than 
outward  forms  and  observances,  than  holy  times  and 
days. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    281 

The  almost  utter  neglect  of  the  hallowing  of  the  day  in 
many  countries  of  the  Old  World,  as  connected  with  the 
absence  of  pure  Christian  faith,  would  go  far  to  prove 
that  Sunday  rightly  observed  exercises  a  conservative  in- 
fluence upon  good  morals  and  spiritual  religion,  which 
are  themselves  also  essential  to  man's  physical,  social,  and 
civil  welfare. 

It  is  indeed  objected  that  in  the  Christian  faith,  which 
is  inward  and  spiritual,  no  one  day  is  holier  than  another  ; 
all  days  should  be  esteemed  alike,  and  are,  in  one  sense, 
made  holy  in  the  Christian  system.  True,  but  "  holy" 
or  "hallowed,"  as  applied  originally  to  the  Sabbath, 
means  simply  "  consecrated,"  "  set  apart,"  like  an  altar. 
It  is  a  day  set  apart  for  God's  remembrance  and  worship. 
It  is  not  meant  by  "  hallowing"  the  Sabbath  day,  that 
one  should  be  more  holy  on  that  day  than  on  any  other, 
or  that  the  day  itself  is  more  holy  than  another  day. 
Man,  while  in  the  body  and  the  world,  needs  to  have 
some  regulated  system  of  religious  life,  or  he  forgets  his 
higher  spiritual  Hfe.  He  becomes  overborne  by  the 
material  and  the  visible. 

As  to  the  Sabbath  of  the  future,  without  going  against 

the   conscientious  convictions  of   his  people,  bred  in  the 

strictness  of  the  New  England  Sabbath  ob- 

,  .  , ,  , ,    ,  Sabbath  of 

servance,  and   actmg  on   the  apostle  s  pnn-  ^,    ,  ^ 

'  ^  r  t  (.jjg  future. 

ciple,  of  the  strong  not  condemning  o.r 
despising  the  weak,  the  pastor,  it  seems  to  us,  may  and 
should  endeavor  to  infuse  more  of  Christian  freedom  and 
the  spirit  of  spontaneity  and  gladness  into  the  day — 
more  of  the  kindly,  social,  human  element,  of  moral 
goodness,  and  of  true  spiritual  refreshment.  Less  of  the 
spirit  of  overdone  solemnity,  gloom,  formalism,  anxiety, 
and  actual  hard  toil  should  pervade  the  Christian  family 
and  the  Christian  assembly,  though   the  holy  earnestness 


282  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

which  eternal  things  and  realities  are  fitted  to  produce 
should  not  be  done  away.  Perhaps  even  the  tide,  in 
some  communities,  is  setting  the  other  way,  and  it  will 
be  necessary  to  stand  up  for  the  religious  character  of  the 
day.  There  may  be  much  to  employ  profitably  mind, 
and  heart,  and  hand,  but  still  the  sense  of  rest  should 
prevail.  Children  should  learn  to  love  instead  of  hate 
Sunday.  Domestic  ties  should  then  be  renewed  and 
strengthened,  and  love  to  man  and  God  should  freely 
flow. 

But  that  the  day,  sanctified  by  nineteen  centuries  of 
Christian  worship  and  the  preaching  of  the  gospel, 
should  be  secularized  and  made  entirely  common,  that  it 
should  lose  its  religious  element  out  of  it,  that  it  should 
not  continue  to  be  "  hallowed  "  as  the  "  Lord's  day," 
and  mainly  devoted  to  the  public  worship  and  praise  of 
God,  and  to  purposes  of  spiritual  instruction,  life,  and 
growth — this  idea,  we  think,  with  present  views,  should 
be  opposed  by  the  Christian  pastor  as  cutting  off  his  right 
arm  of  usefulness  and  shutting  his  mouth  to  preach 
Christ. 

We  would  bring  this  discussion  to  a  close  by  quoting 
from  F.  W.  Robertson's  writings,  to  show  how  strongly, 
in  this  candid  and  independent  soul,  although  he  argued 
for  the  abrogation  of  the  Sabbath  by  Christianity,  the 
impression  of  the  moral  beauty  and  necessity  of  the  day 
remained.  He  says  :  "  The  inestimable  value  of  a  day  of 
physical  repose  and  spiritual  rest  is  granted  ;  but  the 
details  of  that  must  be  modified  by  circumstances.  Sailors 
must  work  a  ship  on  Sundays  ;  ships  must  arrive  on  Sun- 
days ;  battles  must  be  fought  ;  news  must  travel.  Life 
and  death,  or,  what  is  equivalent,  property  to  an  immense 
amount,  must  often  be  involved,  if  the  business  of  a  great 
country,    and   much    of   the   correspondence,    receives  a 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    283 

sudden  shock,  in  the  metropolis  and  in  all  country  towns. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  matter  of  degree.  The  question  is  not 
an  easy  one.  For,  on  the  other  hand,  the  compulsory 
working  of  so  many  thousands  on  the  day  of  rest  is 
almost  identical  with  smothering  the  life  of  religion  in 
the  soul.  I  certainly  do  feel  by  experience  the  eternal 
obligation  because  of  the  eternal  necessity  of  the  Sab- 
bath. The  soul  withers  without  it  ;  it  thrives  in  propor- 
tion to  the  fidelity  of  the  observance.  Nay,  I  even  believe 
the  stern  rigor  of  the  Puritan  Sabbath  had  a  grand  effect 
upon  the  soul.  Fancy  a  man  thrown  in  upon  himself, 
with  no  permitted  music,  nor  relaxation,  nor  literature, 
nor  secular  conversation — nothing  but  his  Bible,  his  own 
soul,  and  God's  silence  !  What  hearts  of  iron  this  system 
must  have  made.  How  different  from  our  stuffed-arm- 
chair religion  and  '  gospel  of  comfort  !'  as  if  to  be  made 
comfortable  were  the  grand  end  of  religion."  '  Again 
he  says  :  "  Nevertheless,  I  am  more  and  more  sure  by 
experience  that  the  reason  for  the  Sabbath  lies  deep  in 
the  everlasting  necessities  of  human  nature,  and  that  as 
long  as  man  is  man  the  blessedness  of  keeping  it,  not  as  a 
day  of  rest  only,  but  as  a  day  of  spiritual  rest,  will  never 
be  annulled.  Almost  everything  may  become  an  object 
of  doubt,  but,  in  the  midst  of  a  wilderness  of  shadows, 
broken  and  distorted  in  every  way,  of  one  thing  I  am 
certain — one  thing  is  real,  the  life  of  God  in  the  soul  of 
man  !" 

Sec.  16.    TJie  Sajtctuary. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  theory  and  form  of  public  wor- 
ship, and  also  of  the  day  which  has  been  consecrated  to 
the  periodic  observance  of  public  Christian  worship,  but 


'  "  Life,"  vol.  ii.  p.  253. 


284  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

something  of  a  more  particular  character  seems  needful  to 
be  said  in  relation  to  the  ofifices  of  the  house  of  God, 
where  the  pastor  on  every  "  Lord's  day"  conducts  the 
religious  services  of  his  flock  ;  since  he  is  not  only  the 
instructor  of  their  consciences,  but  the  leader  of  their 
devotions.  We  would  lay  down,  for  pastoral  suggestion, 
two  or  three  simple  principles  in  regard  to  the  character 
of  the  sanctuary  services,  although  they  may  seem  to 
repeat  what  has  been  already  said. 

They  should  be  regularly  held  in  one  place.  This  is 
in  harmony  with  the  laws  of  our  nature,  and  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  Scriptures.^  Although  a  superstitious 
reverence  for  places  is  done  away  by  Christianity,  and 
the  temple  is  the  soul  itself,  yet  the  regular  local  sanctu- 
ary is  both  needful  and  in  accordance  with  Christian  pre- 
cedent from  the  earliest  times  until  now.*"  It  was  con- 
sidered a  good  and  beautiful  work,  and  one  showing  love 
toward  God  and  his  people,  because  the  Roman  centurion 
had  built  for  the  Jews  a  synagogue  ;  and  upon  the  old 
Hebrew  synagogue  and  its  worship  the  Christian  temple 
and  its  worship  have,  in  a  large  degree,  patterned  them- 
selves. When  we  are  on  a  journey,  or  at  war,  we  can  wor- 
ship in  a  tent  or  under  a  green  tree  ;  but  at  home  we  re- 
quire a  religious  as  well  as  a  domestic  sanctuary.  It  is  the 
pastor's  duty,  as  far  as  he  can  have  any  control  in  this,  to 
see  that  the  sanctuary  is  a  place  proper  for  the  public 
worship  of  God  ;  that  it  is  not  used  for  secular  purposes  ; 
that  it  is  at  least  neat  and  commodious  ;  and  that,  ac- 
cording to  the  means  of  the  people,  it  is  attractive  and 
in  good  taste. 


'  Deut.  12  :  1-7  ;  John  18  :  2  ;  Acts  2  :  i  ;  i  Cor.  11  :  20. 
^  Pliny's  letter.     See  Mosheim's  "  History  of  Christianity  of  the  First 
Three  Centuries,"  vol.  i.,  p.  125. 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    285 

If  a  new   house  of  worship  is   to   be   built,  and    if   the 

people  are  able  to  incur  the  expense  without   incurring 

a  debt,  it  should  be,  whether  large  or  small, 

a  solid,  permanent  structure — better  of  stone 

edince. 

— in  order  that  the  hallowing  associations  of 
ages  may  cluster  about  it.  It  should  be  well  suited  for 
the  purposes  of  public  worship,  of  seeing  and  hearing, 
of  aiding,  and  not  destroying,  the  sympathy  which 
should  exist  between  preacher  and  people  ;  and,  these 
conditions  fulfilled,  it  ought  to  be  in  good  taste  archi- 
tecturally, for  it  is  a  school  wherein  to  educate  the  senti- 
ment as  well  as  to  instruct  the  conscience.  The  Gothic 
architecture  may,  possibly,  hereafter  be  surpassed  and 
superseded  by  some  other  style  ;  but  as  an  ecclesiastical 
architecture,  combining  the  impression  of  sacred  awe 
with  a  certain  vagueness  that  belongs  to  spiritual  ideas, 
it  has  not  yet  been  equalled.  It  can  be  modified  and 
adapted  to  the  purposes  of  Protestant  worship  ;  and  as 
it  sprang  originally  from  a  religious  idea,  and  all  its  lines 
point  upward  and  carry  the  thoughts  with  them,  it  seems, 
in  an  aesthetic  point  of  view,  better  fitted  for  educational 
purposes  than  the  horizontal,  low,  and  earth-bound  lines 
of  classic  architecture  ;  but  this  is  purely  a  matter  of 
taste.  It  is  altogether  a  secondary  matter  ;  for  "  The 
God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  that  .are  therein, 
the  same  being  already  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth, 
settleth  not  down  in  hand-made  temples."  '  The  build- 
ing of  exceedingly  costly  and  elaborately  architectural 
churches,  of  imitation-cathedrals,  by  Christians  who 
adhere  to  a  simpler  ritual  of  worship,  is,  we  think,  un- 
called for.  It  is  contrary  to  their  spirit,  and  it  reveals 
no  settled  principle,  nor  true  conception  of  religious  art. 


Convbeare  and  Howson's  translation. 


286  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

whose  whole  beauty  consists  in  adaptation  to  the  idea, 
the  design,  and  the  place  ;  for  beauty  here  has  utility,  a 
vital  relation  to  religious  wants.  We  believe  that  the 
tEsthetic  principle  of  our  nature  enters  legitimately  into  re- 
ligious things — into  preaching,  into  worship,  into  ecclesi- 
astical architecture.  We  believe  that  the  time  will  come 
when  true  art,  of  whatever  kind  —  architecture,  mural 
painting,  and  the  plastic  arts  just  as  well  as  music — will 
find  its  free  place  and  proper  use  in  Christian  worship  and 
faith,  as  a  humble  but  beautiful  handmaid  of  religion. 
The  art,  to  be  sure,  will  become  more  purely  ecclesiasti- 
cal, will  appeal  less  to  the  senses  and  more  to  the  reason 
and  the  heart.      It  will  become  truer  religious  art. 

The  house  should  be  built  and  paid  for  by  voluntary 
subscription,  chiefly  of  the  wealthy  ;  and  if  a  community 
is  abundantly  able  to  build  such  a  good,  ample,  solid,  and 
chastely-beautiful  edifice,  for  the  use  of  both  rich  and 
poor,  it  should  surely  do  so  ;  it  should  furnish  a  fit  and 
commodious  sanctuary  for  the  benefit  of  all  classes. 
This  should  not  be  a  place  for  the  rich  alone,  since  "  a 
fashionable  church,"  as  it  is  called,  is  "an  abomination 
to  the  Lord  ;"  but  it  should  be  a  place  for  rich  and  poor 
to  sit  together,  and  for  the  poor  to  feel  a  right  to  be 
there,  because  they  too  bear  some  small  part  of  the  ex- 
pense, or  have  an  opportunity  to  pay  a  low  rent  within 
their  means.  This  system,  combining  good  taste  and 
permanence  with  cheapness  and  reasonableness  in  the 
price  of  seats,  is  better  than  very  costly  churches  ex- 
clusively for  the  rich,  with  mission  chapels  for  the  poor  ; 
or  than  entirely  free  churches;  or  than  big  "taber- 
nacles," which  require  a  rare  popular  orator  to  fill  them, 
and  which,  unfilled,  are  wastes  of  empty  solitude.  Pews 
are,  comparatively  speaking,  a  modern  invention.  The 
first   seats  in  the   ancient  European   churches  were   a  few 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    287 

stone  benches  placed  around  the  sides  of  the  walls.  The 
people  stood  or  kneeled  during  the  service.  Then  there 
were  small  unfixed  stones  placed  here  and  there  ;  then 
plain  benches  ;  next,  benches  with  backs  to  them  ;  then 
the  priest's  "  reading-pew,"  which  was  probably  the 
origin  of  pews;  then  the  "  churching-pew, "  the 
"  Squire's  pew,"  and  so  on.  The  adoption  of  pews  in 
England  came  in  with  the  Puritans,  by  removing  many 
benches  to  make  one  pew  ;  but  the  private  pew,  as 
we  now  see  it,  is  a  comparatively  modern  innovation. 
Dean  Swift  likens  the  square,  high-walled  English  pew 
to  a  four-poster  bedstead — a  place  to  slumber  in.  The 
system  of  pews,  with  perhaps  some  advantages,  has 
served  to  cultivate  exclusiveness  and  family  pride  and  to 
destroy  the  unity  of  worship.' 

The  glory  of  a  church  is  to  be  full — full  of  glad  wor- 
shippers ;  and  the  most  beautiful  symbolism,  the  most  fit 
external  forms,  are  dead,  and  worse,  if  they  are  not  aids 
and  expressions  of  true  spiritual  life.  Therefore,  if  neces- 
sary, rather  than  that  the  church  should  not  be  full, 
Christians  should  go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges, 
and  gather  in  the  poor  and  the  outcast.  The  spirit  of 
Christianity  is  to  seek  such,  not  to  wait  for  them  to  seek 
Christianity,  or  to  come  to  the  church,  which  they  never 
will  do.  Within  the  church  itself,  the  seats  of  honor,  if 
there  are  such,  should  be  given  to  the  aged  and  to  the 
"  elders"  of  the  church  ;  or  the  congregation  should  be 
ecclesiastically,  not  pecuniarily,  arranged.  The  church 
and  society  should  be  brought  to  feel  (and  the  pastor's 
responsibility  lies  here)  that  a  selfish  property  interest  in 
the  sanctuary,  as  in  a  warehouse,  is  an  unchristian  senti- 
ment— that  the  sanctuary  is  for  the  good  of  all,  and  be- 


See  "  Stones  of  the  Temple." 


2  5b  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

longs  to  all  ;  and  there  should  be  an  earnest  desire  that 
all  should  be  provided  with  good  seats,  even  to  the  in- 
convenience of  some.  Christians  should  let  it  be  under- 
stood that  their  church,  be  it  in  town  or  country,  is  the 
religious  home  of  the  whole  community,  of  all  who  wish 
to  come — that  there  are  no  places  in  it  to  be  unoccupied, 
or  to  be  exclusively  occupied. 

"  One  place  there  is— beneath  the  burial  sod, 
Where  all  mankind  are  equalized  by  death  ; 
Another  place  there  is— the  fane  of  God, 

Where  all  are  equal  who  draw  living  breath." 

Let  the  pastor  labor  to  bring  his  people  up  to  the  work 
of  filling  God's  house  with  the  poor  and  the  humble,  and 
of  looking  less  to  private  interests  and  tastes  than  to  the 
common  good. 

To  generalize  a  little  upon  this  not  altogether  unim- 
portant topic  of  the  church  edifice,  we  would  say  that 
the  character  of  the  building  depends  upon  the  place  and 
upon  the  circumstances  of  the  people  ;  and  that  it  is  far 
better,  in  many  cases,  that  there  should  be  a  small  and 
inexpensive  edifice,  than  one  which  is  clearly  beyond  the 
pecuniary  means  of  the  community,  and  which  can  be 
built  only  by  incurring  heavy  debt.  This  belongs  to  that 
species  of  speculation,  stock-gambling  and  dishonesty  in 
business,  against  which  the  preacher  in  the  same  church's 
pulpit  might  be  called  upon  to  bear  his  testimony.  But 
great  and  noble  church  edifices  have  also  been  the  scenes 
of  spiritual  life.  Earnest  preachers  have  preached  in 
grand  buildings,  architecturally  considered — to  name 
Chrysostom  in  the  basilica  of  Santa  Sophia  at  Constanti- 
nople, Savonarola  in  the  Duomo  of  Santa  Maria  at 
Florence,  and  Lacordaire  in  Notre  Dame  of  Paris. 
Gothic  architecture  is  peculiarly  a  development  of  Chris- 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    289 

tian  art,  expressive  of  the  soaring  spirit  of  Christianity, 
and  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of  the  sentiments  of  faith, 
reverence,  and  awe. 

"  They  dreamt  not  of  a  perishable  house 
Who  thus  could  build." 

Art  signifies  the  expression  of  harmony  with  the  fitness, 
order,  and  beauty  of  that  universe  which  sprang  from  the 
divine  mind.  A  true  work  of  art  embodies  an  ideal,  or 
something  that  awakens  in  the  human  mind  the  thought 
of  its  best  self,  of  its  highest  nature,  of  what  is  worthiest 
in  it.  It  shares  the  nature  of  the  mind.  It  awakes  pro- 
found emotion.  Like  the  greatest  works  of  art,  the  Sis- 
tine  Chapel,  the  dome  of  Florence,  the  Oratorio  of  the 
Messiah,  the  Cologne  Cathedral,  it  exalts  the  beholder's 
mind  above  itself  and  gives  a  glimpse  of  its  divine  ideal 
and  archetype.  Not  less  absolutely  useful  is  the  beauti- 
ful in  religion  ;  and  the  cultivation  of  the  aesthetic  nature 
on  the  part  of  the  pastor  would  be  one  of  the  effectual 
ways  of  supplying  the  deficiency  of  the  aesthetic  element 
in  public  worship — often  a  lamentably  marked  want  that 
almost  carries  with  it  moral  blemish  and  injury. 

Men  may  rightly  bring  all  that  they  can  of  life,  thought, 
taste,  and  feeling  into  religion  and  religious  worship.  The 
most  pronounced  Puritan  sentiment  has  adopted  music  as 
an  aid  of  religion,  and  why  should  it  not  go  on  and  adopt 
the  other  arts,  in  so  far  as  they  are  real  expressions  of  the 
mind's  ideal  aspirations  and  susceptibilities,  and  thus 
render  to  God  not  a  starved  service,  but  a  full,  rich,  and 
beautiful  offering  of  the  best  powers,  and  of  all  the 
powers  of  so  splendidly  endowed  a  nature  as  man's? 

In  regard  to  the  more  practical  view  of  the  church 
edifice,  as  man  is  the  creature  of  association  and  habit, 
and  does  not  like  to  change  his  place  constantly  in  the 


290  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

house  of  God,  this  is  in  so  far  an  argument  against  the 
free-church  or  free-pew  system.  But  the  question  is, 
How  shall  the  poorer  classes  be  drawn  into  the  sanctuary  ? 
The  house  of  God  must  not  be  made  an  aristocratic 
shrine,  a  select  establishment.  "  Upon  the  influence 
which  Christianity  is  to  exercise  upon  the  democracy 
depends  its  future  existence — at  any  rate  for  a  century  to 
come — as  the  ruling  religious  power  of  the  civilized  world. 
It  is  the  fashion  to  say  that  Christianity  is  on  its  trial  ; 
and  sometimes  a  more  perfect  morality,  again  a  scientific 
discovery,  then  an  enlarged  philosophy,  are  the  instru- 
ments which,  in  the  minds  alike  of  friends  and  foes,  are 
to  accomplish  the  overthrow.  This  we  can  regard  with- 
out fear  or  find  ways  to  meet  ;  but  the  continued  aliena-  . 
tion  of  the  working  classes  would  stretch  the  stoutest 
faith  to  its  utmost  tension.  If  Christianity  becomes  the 
religion  of  a  caste  or  of  a  race,  or  continues  to  be  the 
religion  of  a  civilization  instead  of  becoming  the  religion 
of  human  nature,  it  ceases  to  have  any  claim  upon  the  un- 
divided allegiance  of  the  world.  And  if  the  democracy, 
including,  as  it  will  do,  thousands  of  men  of  a  pure  though 
possibly  imperfect  morality,  undoubted  earnestness,  con- 
siderable ability,  and  possessed  of  a  large  share  of  po- 
litical power,  rejects  the  claims  of  revelation,  and  leaves  it 
with  contemptuous  indifference  to  the  upper  and  middle 
classes,  then  we  may  be  sure  that  much  more  than  the 
churches  themselves  will  perish  in  the  confusion."  Re- 
ligion must  reach  the  working  classes,  and  all  classes  of 
the  people,  or  it  is  a  failure.  Religion  must  not  lie  out- 
side of  the  general  run  of  humanity's  life,  thought,  and 
business  ;  it  must  have  to  do  with  the  every-day  experi- 
ences, joys,  sorrows,  and  occupations  of  all  classes  of 
men.  The  poorer  classes  in  Europe,  to  be  sure,  are  glad 
of  the  smallest  favors  from  the   rich,  but  it  is  not  so  with 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    291 

US.  What  we  have  to  fear  is  the  indifference  of  the 
thinking  working  classes.  We  should  therefore  have 
good  churches,  yet  with  low  rentals— in  fine,  essentially- 
free  churches,  without  perhaps  calling  them  so.  The 
property  principle,  so  strong  in  English  nature,  must  be 
considered.  The  voluntary  idea  as  seen  in  America  is  a 
grand  one,  and  meets  a  law  in  human  nature,  while 
funded  church-property  is  almost  sure  to  entail  the  curse 
of  empty  seats.  The  sanctuary  should  therefore  belong 
to  all,  and  all  should  feel  that  it  belonged  to  all.  The 
rich  or  richest  must  not  govern  here.  There  should  be 
no  one-man  churches.  The  great  thing,  after  all,  is  to 
have  worshippers,  hearers,  by  whatever  legitimate  means, 
and  absolutely  free  seats  alone  do  not  draw  hearers. 
There  must  be  some  other  attraction  and  powerful 
motive.  The  right  of  ownership  and  self-interest  might 
therefore  be  added.  Whitefield  and  Wesley  introduced 
field-preaching  under  the  open  sky,  when  they  could  not 
get  hearers  into  the  churches,  and  when  they  themselves 
Vv'ere  turned  out  of  the  churches  ;  but  this  was  only  a 
temporary  expedient. 

The  edifice  should  be  built  and  expenses  should  be 
paid  by  the  voluntary  subscription  of  all  ;  for  in  our 
democratic  countr)^,  if  a  man  is  indebted  for  a  seat  to 
another,  he  will  not  long  avail  himself  of  the  privilege. 

There  is  certainly  a  difiference  to  be  made  between  the 
poor  and  the  pauper,  or  the  outcast  poor,  such  as  are  to 
be  found  in  the  cities  of  the  Old  World,  and  even  in  our 
large  cities.  The  first  should  be  gathered  into  the  sanc- 
tuary, the  last  should  be  sought  out  and  cared  for  in 
other  Avays  by  missionary  effort,  and  mission  chapels 
provided  for  them  in  their  own  districts.  But  never 
should  the  church  itself  be  made  too  fine  with  upholstery 
for  the  meanly-clad  to  sit  in,  or  the  wayfarer's  feet  to 


292  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

tread.  The  audience-room  of  the  church  should  be  well 
lighted,  well  ventilated,  and  well  warmed.  It  should  be 
adapted,  as  has  been  said,  to  the  purposes  of  preaching,  of 
hearing,  and  of  the  simple,  intelligent  forms  of  Protestant 
worship.  "  It  should  be  so  arranged  that  all  the  sitters 
should  have  equality  of  hearing  and  seeing — should  not 
have  large  pillars  so  placed  that  many  of  the  congregation 
are  hidden  behind  them,  for  such  '  pillars  of  the  church  ' 
are  not  orthodox.  A  window  behind  the  preacher  is 
bad.  A  broad  aisle  should  not  be  directly  in  front  of  the 
speaker,  but  this  space  should  be  filled  with  the  audience. 
Cold  marble  for  the  pulpit,  and  a  clam-shell  sounding- 
board  over  it,  are  not  desirable,  especially  as  the  build- 
ing itself  should  be  reared  upon  good  acoustic  principles, 
the  last  thing  usually  thought  of  by  the  church  architect. 
The  organ  should  not  be  placed  back  of  the  congregation 
nor  of  the  preacher,  but  on  one  side,  near  the  centre. 
The  ornamentation  of  the  pulpit,  and  indeed  of  the 
whole  interior,  should  be  dignified  and  full  of  character, 
not  glittering,  nor  barbaresque,  nor  clumsy."  These 
sensible  observations  we  would  indorse,  but  the  very 
positive  opinion  of  the  same  writer  that  Gothic  architect- 
ure cannot  be  made  cheerful  nor  adapted  to  Protestant 
worship  we  do  not  agree  with,  though  this  is  a  matter 
of  taste,  and  the  great  ends  of  public  worship  in  God's 
house  are  of  far  more  importance. 

For  the  first  two  centuries,  says  Dean  Stanley,  who 
echoes  here  a  well-known  fact,  set  places  of  public  Chris- 
tian worship  had  no  existence  at  all,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  fourth  century  that  they  acquired  a  fixed  form  and 
name.  Issuing  from  the  Catacombs,  there  were  three  edi- 
fices of  the  antique  world  which  lent  themselves  to  the 
service  of  Christianity — the  circular  tomb,  the  temple,  and 
the  basilica  ;  of  these  the  last  alone  afforded  a  convenient 


THE  pastor: S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    293 

refuge  to  the  crowds  of  the  ccclesia  in  their  public  worship, 
and  became  a  permanent  type  of  the  Christian  church  down 
to  the  present  day.  The  heathen  temple  was  the  earthly 
dwelling  of  the  god  represented  by  his  marble  statue,  and 
its  narrow  cell  and  confined  peristyle  were  not  places  for 
the  gathering  of  great  assemblies  ;  but  the  basilica,  or 
hall  of  justice,  "  Greek  in  its  origin,  Roman  in  its  prog- 
ress, Christian  in  its  ultimate  development,"  with  long 
central  nave  and  two  side  aisles,  semicircular  apse,  and 
ample  portico  or  narthex,  was  wonderfully  adapted  to 
Christian  worship.  Its  simplicity  of  ground-plan  com- 
bined with  its  large  spaces  suited  the  exigencies  of  the 
Christian  ritual  in  its  most  elaborate  as  well  as  most  free 
forms. 

We  see  in  the  old  churches  of  "  Santa  Croce  in  Geru- 
salemme"  and  "San  Vaolo extra  mtiros"  and  "San  Cle- 
mente"  at  Rome,  examples  of  these  antique  Roman 
basilicas  converted  into  Christian  churches,  or  built  on  the 
plan  of  the  classic  basilica  ;  and  more  than  this,  the  politi- 
cal spirit  and  order  which  gave  rule  to  the  Roman  edifice 
continued  in  many  respects  to  govern  the  Christian  as- 
sembly. The  art  too  which  was  contained  in  the  archi- 
tecture, both  of  the  classical  and  the  Gothic  mediaeval 
styles  by  the  adoption  of  Christian  usage,  showed  that  a 
new  spirit,  more  comprehensive  and  humane,  had  come 
into  Christianity  and  sanctified  all  the  powers  and  ex- 
pressions of  the  human  mind.  Christianity  showed  its 
wisdom  by  its  free  appropriation  and  transformation  to 
a  new  purpose  of  the  noble  architecture  and  art  prin- 
ciples developed  by  the  genius  of  the  ancients,  just  as  it 
laid  hold  of  the  beautiful  and  nervous  Greek  language  as 
a  medium  for  the  perpetuation  and  expression  of  its  spir- 
itual teachings. 

There  are  two  or  three  more  rules  in  regard  to  the  ser- 


294  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

vices  of  the  sanctuary  that  should  be  noticed,  at  the  risk 
of  repetition  of  what  has  been  said  upon  Hturgies,  since 
in  the  cold  and  careless  fashion  into  which  the  devotions 
of  the  sanctuary  have  sometimes  fallen,  the  repetition 
may  be  useful,  especially  where  a  pastor  of  a  naturally 
unaesthetic  and  exclusively  intellectual  type  "  cares  for 
none  of  these  things." 

The  sanctuary  services  should  be  conducted  "decently 
and  in  order."  This  is  the  injunction  of  Scripture  and  of 
right  feeling.  There  should  be  some  prearranged  form, 
whatever  it  may  be,  so  that  there  may  be  no  confusion, 
delay,  or  haste.  Order  conduces  to  solemnity.  "  Or- 
der preserves  reciprocity  of  action,  the  unity  of  mani- 
foldness  and  development."  '  But  while  thus  orderly,  the 
services  should  not  be  mechanical  or  inflexible  ;  there 
should  be  in  them  the  spirit  of  freedom.  They  should 
not  be  so  formal,  so  prescribed,  so  rigid,  that  there 
can  be  no  production  of  new  power  and  fresh  feeling. 
As  has  been  hinted,  the  pastor  should  study  the  ancient 
liturgies,  and  derive  suggestions  from  them.  The  Book 
of  Common  Prayer,  which  the  New  England  fathers  set 
aside,  is  still,  in  many  respects,  a  treasury  of  liturgical 
suggestion  and  instruction,  embodying  much  of  the  litur- 
gical element  that  has  run  through  the  whole  history  of 
the  Christian  Church.  There  is  certainly  great  beauty  in 
the  order  of  its  prayers  and  services,  (i)  The  silent 
dedicatory  prayer  on  entering  the  sanctuary,  humbly 
acknowledging  the  holy  presence  of  God  searching  the 
heart.  (2)  The  confession  of  sin.  (3)  The  prayer  for 
absolution  and  pardon.  (4)  The  Lord's  Prayer.  (5)  The 
invocation  for  the' aid  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  (6)  The  song 
of  praise — the    Te  Deum.     (7)  The  creed.      (8)  The  read- 


'  Nilzsch,  "  System  of  Chr.  Doc,"  §  194,  p.  357. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    295 

ing  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Epistles.      (9)  The  ser- 
mon.     (10)  The  concluding  prayers. 

The  service  should  be  common.  Public  worship  is 
"  common  worship" — the  worship  of  many  together.  If, 
as  political  economists  tell  us,  self-love  is  the  bond  of  so- 
ciety, the  love  of  all  is  the  bond  of  the  Church.  Nitzsch 
says,  "  The  condition  of  living  and  true  fellowship  which 
Christians  shall  have,  in  the  Lord,  with  each  other,  and 
with  the  past  and  future  Church,  is  common  prayer,  in 
accordance  with  the  Word  of  God  (Matt.  18  :  20. 
Compare  Acts  2  :  42  ;  4  :  24).  A  community  continually 
offering  up  thanksgiving  and  supplications  can  never 
cease  to  intercede  for  the  magistracy,  the  people,  and  the 
world  with  which  it  is  connected  (i  Tim.  2  :  i).  The 
more  a  congregation  prays  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  the 
truer  it  becomes,  and,  as  true,  is  always  heard.  In- 
dividuals ought  to  submit  to  all  the  discipline  of  the 
Spirit,  and  to  all  external  order  requisite  for  their  attain- 
ing a  more  and  more  common  prayer  (i  Cor.  14  ; 
Ephes.  5  :  19).  If  they  are  bound  to  cherish  their 
assemblies,  they  are  equally  bound  to  consecrate  them  in 
communion."'  Again  he  says,  "Communion  opposes 
the  predominance  of  individualism."  There  should  be 
in  public  worship  nothing  which  shuts  out  any  class  of 
persons,  or  any  person,  from  its  enjoyment  ;  but  there 
should  be  a  common  platform,  on  which  all  can  stand — a 
common  feeling,  in  which  all  can  share.  Of  course  this 
communion  in  Christian  worship  is  not  a  mere  social 
fellowship,  a  mere  natural  genial  feeling  of  sympathy, 
desirable  as  this  is,  but  it  is  a  fellowship  in  religious 
things.  Therefore  there  will  be,  probably,  those  in  every 
congregation  who   do  not,  in   heart,  join  in  the   services  ; 


'  "  System  of  Chr.  Doc,"  p.  357. 


296  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  yet  the  services  should  be  such  that  they  all  may 
join. 

And  the  pastor  should  not  confine  himself,  in  the  ex- 
ercises of  public  worship,  to  any  particular  class — say 
older  persons,  or  even  professed  believers.  The  services 
of  God's  house  should  be  so  conducted  that  all  persons 
may  be  comprehended  and  benefited,  and  every  one  have 
his  portion  in  due  season. 

This  opens  an  interesting  and   difificult  question,  as  to 

tJie  theory  of  a   Cliristiaii  congregation,  in  the  conduct  of 

public  worship.      Schleiermacher's   views   on 

Theory  of    ^|^jg  point,  although  independent  and  peculiar, 

a  Christian  .     1        ^  ..1  -j      •  -ri 

are    at    least   worth    considering.      iney   are 
congrega- 

tion.  noticed  in  Dr.  Liicke's  sketch  of  his  life  (p. 
53).  Dr.  Liicke  says,  "  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  I  might  declare  that  it  has  always  afforded  me 
special  gratification,  and  has  appeared  to  me  exceedingly 
praiseworthy,  when  Schleiermacher  has  mounted  the  pul- 
pit with  the  magnanimous  assumption  of  his  believing 
and  affectionate  soul,  that  he  found  the  Christian  congre- 
gation, as  such,  already  established  and  gathered  together 
by  the  Lord  and  his  spirit,  and  that  he  was  not  called  to 
the  first  planting  of  their  faith,  but  rather  to  the  watering 
of  that  which  was  already  planted.  Schleiermacher  did 
not  overlook  the  different  stages  of  knowledge  and  piety 
which  exist  in  a  congregation  ;  he  took  good  notice  of 
states  that  are  defective.  But  (in  preaching)  he  always 
assumed,  as  the  starting-point,  a  certain  average  measure 
of  Christian  faith  and  life  as  existing  in  the  congregation. 
In  an  age  in  which  there  are  so  many  who  deal  with 
Christian  congregations  as  if  the  work  of  redemption  and 
regeneration  had  not  yet  found  a  beginning  in  them, 
either  consciously  or  unconsciously,  or  as  if  it  had  every 
Sunday  to   be  commenced   anew,  and   by  this  perverse 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    297 

fashion,  weary  and  exasperate,  rather  than  elevate  and 
gladden,  Schleiermacher's  opposite  peculiarity  is  only  a 
matter  of  praise." 

The  pastor,  in  his  preaching  and  sanctuary  services, 
may  not  assume  to  take  the  place  of  God,  and  divide  his 
congregation  formally  into  the  sheep  and  the  goats  (as  in 
primitive  Christian  art  the  pastor  is  represented  as  lead- 
ing both  sheep  and  goats,  and  sometimes  carrying  a  kid 
upon  his  shoulders),  or  to  denote  any  one  in  particular  in 
the  assembly  as  having  no  right  to  join  in  the  spiritual 
worship  of  God's  house  ;  for  how  can  he  look  into  the 
heart  ?  His  duty  is  to  "  hold  forth  the  Word  of  life"  to 
all  ;  to  show  what  true  faith  is,  and  what  unbelief  and 
unpardoned  sin  are  ;  and  each  one  may  judge  of  his  own 
heart.  The  pastor  should  preach  for  all  and  pray  for  all  ; 
he  should  preach  truthfully,  searchingly,  but  not  invidi- 
ously, or  with  narrow  personality.  He  should  compre- 
hend all  in  the  present  possibilities  of  mercy — in  the  wide 
arms  of  Christian  love.  The  further  question  here  arises, 
Should  a  preacher  address  one  sermon  entirely  to  the  be- 
lieving and  one  entirely  to  the  unbelieving  ?  It  may  be 
that  sometimes  this  is  absolutely  necessary  ;  the  subject 
or  the  occasion  may  require  it  ;  but,  as  a  general  rule,  it  is 
better  in  every  sermon,  viewing  it  as  a  part  of  common 
worship,  or  as  belonging  to  all,  to  try  to  have  something 
in  it,  or  to  develop  something  from  it,  fitted  to  benefit  all 
classes  of  hearers.  Every  true  Christian  needs  to  be 
admonished  on  all  subjects  that  the  impenitent  need  to 
hear,  because  he  is  still  imperfect  in  all  these  points  ;  and 
every  impenitent  man,  on  the  other  hand,  can  learn 
something  from  what  is  said  to  believers,  because  he  thus 
discovers  what  the  higher  life  is,  and  a  desire  may  be 
awakened  to  secure  it  for  himself. 

Upon   the  true  theory  of  a  Christian  congregation  as 


298  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY.  . 

connected  with   the  services  of   the   sanctuar}^  Vinet  has 
some  interesting  remarks  ("  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  204). 

Under  this  head  the  warning  might  be  sternly  repeated 
that  the  people,  the  great  democracy,  must  be  interested 
in  public  worship.  The  loss  of  this  is  fatal.  Religion 
appeals  to  all  or  none.  The  artisan  as  well  as  the 
educated  man  must  have  his  wants  met  in  the  sanctuary, 
and  find  there  the  religious  home  of  his  intellect  and 
heart.  Otherwise  there  can  be  no  life  or  progress,  and 
we  may  tinker  our  creeds,  and  elaborate  our  doctrinal 
preaching,  and  dress  our  ministers  in  millinery,  and  bring 
our  music  of  praise  to  the  utmost  perfection,  and  decorate 
our  churches  to  the  highest  style  of  art,  in  vain.  The 
truth  is  to  be  accepted  and  earnestly  acted  upon  that  the 
religion  of  Christianity  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  all, 
that  it  is  the  religion  of  the  whole  people,  that  it  forms 
the  common  worship  of  all  classes,  and  that  in  its  sight 
human  ranks  and  differences  vanish  away  and  men  are 
equal.  Humanity  is  one  in  its  constitution  and  one  in 
its  necessity.  The  grateful  affections  of  the  heart  are  to 
be  drawn  out  in  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary,  where  rich 
and  poor  are  poor  and  rich  alike  in  the  gracious  presence 
of  a  common  Father.  All  denominations  sin  in  their  un- 
Christ-like  worship  of  the  rich  and  influential,  whereas  the 
gospel  says,  "  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl 
for  your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you.  Your  riches 
are  corrupted,  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your 
gold  and  silver  is  cankered  ;  and  the  rust  of  them  shall 
be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  it 
were  fire.  Ye  have  heaped  treasure  together  for  the  last 
days.  .  .  .  Know  ye  not  that  the  friendship  of  the  world 
is  enmity  with  God.  Draw  nigh  unto  God,  and  he  will 
draw  nigh  unto  you.  Cleanse  your  hands,  ye  sinners  ; 
and  purify  your  hearts,  ye  double-minded.      Be  afflicted, 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIOXS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    299 

and  mourn,  and  weep  ;  let  your  laughter  be  turned  to 
mourning,  and  your  joy  to  heaviness.  Humble  your- 
selves in  the  sight  of  God,  and  he  shall  lift  you  up." 

The  service  of  God's  house  should  be  edifymg.  This  is 
the  preacher's  golden  opportunity  to  build  up  the  peo- 
ple in  the  most  holy  faith.  Truth,  not  dogma,  should 
be  preached,  and  in  every  manner  set  forth.  All  the 
parts  of  the  service  should  contain  divine  nutriment. 
The  faithful  manifestation  of  Christ  in  the  sanctuary 
has  ever  been  accompanied  by  the  teaching  and  con- 
verting power  of  God.  Henry  Melville  has  a  sermon 
upon  "  God's  way  in  the  Sanctuary"  ("  Sermons,"  vol. 
i.,  p.  403),  in  which  his  aim  is  to  show  that  God  rules  in 
all  the  ordering  of  his  house  ;  that  he  uses  his  truth  there 
set  forth  in  his  own  way,  or  he  uses  what  portions  of  it 
he  pleases,  for  the  conversion  and  sanctification  of  souls. 
It  is,  indeed,  very  rare  that  a  sermon  is  received  as  a 
whole  by  any  one  of  the  congregation  ;  but  a  thought,  a 
remark,  a  sentence,  runs  and  glances  hither  and  thither, 
like  quicksilver,  through  the  hearts  of  an  assembly. 

The  pastor,  having  endeavored  to  find  out  the  real 
wants  of  his  people,  should  try  to  supply  them  all. 
"  We  are  debtors  both  to  the  wise  and  the  unwise  ;"  and 
as  the  unwise  form  sometimes  a  large  class  of  the  congre- 
gation, one  should  be  careful  how  he  preaches  exclusively 
to  the  instructed,  "or  wise  {die  Gcbildcteii). 

Let  us  give  up  our  scholarly  ideals,  and  cast  them  to 
the  winds,  if  they  stand  in  the  way  of  our  coming  to  the 
people's  true  wants  and  hearts,  of  exciting  a  real  interest 
on  their  part. 

Edward  Irving  spoke  of  the  teaching  of  ministers  in 
these  words  :  "  They  should  prepare  for  teaching  gypsies, 
bargemen,  miners,  by  apprehending  their  way  of  conceiv- 
ing of  things  ;  and   why  not   also  prepare  for  teaching 


300  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

imaginative  men,  and  scientific  men,  who  bear  the  world 
in  hand  ?"  He  went  astray,  doubtless,  in  his  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  ;  but  as  a  preacher  and  leader,  or 
prince,  in  the  worship  of  God's  house,  in  which  and  for 
which  he  lived,  there  is  much  to  be  learned  from  his  life. 
While  impressed  with  the  idea  of  conducting  the  worship, 
in  its  outward  forms,  with  a  certain  majestic  solemnity 
and  order,  his  heart  seemed  to  expand  at  such  seasons, 
taking  in  all,  and  yearning  over  them  from  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  to  instruct,  nourish,  and  save  them.  The 
great  quality  of  preaching,  when  regarded  simply  as  an 
act  of  worship,  as  part  of  the  services  of  the  sanctuary, 
is  unction,  or  that  which  is  communicated  to  it  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  and  which  shows  itself  in  the  preacher's 
desire  to  make  his  preaching  and  the  whole  service  con- 
ducive to  the  spiritual  life  of  all,  and  to  the  praise  of 
God.  Thus  the  service  should  be  drawn  from  God  and 
return  to  him,  as  the  word  which  goes  forth  and  comes 
back  to  its  author  ;  it  should  not  be  a  purely  human 
effort,  standing  by  itself,  and  apart  from  God,  but 
should  proceed  from  the  Word,  the  spirit,  the  love  of 
God. 

For  the  services  of  the  sanctuary  to  be  thus  edifying, 
they  should  not  be  toojong.  Religious  interest  and  ele- 
vation of  feeling  cannot  be  kept  up  beyond  a  certain  point, 
since  the  power  of  receptivity  is  a  measure  of  the  power 
of  production.  The  worship  should  not  go  on  to  repletion 
or  exhaustion.  While  all  are  fed,  the  people  should  feel 
that  there  was  ample  provision  left  in  God's  house  for  all 
wants.  There  should  be  reserved  power  and  reserved 
feeling.  The  exercises,  with  perhaps  exceptional  periods, 
should  be  even,  simple,  nutritive,  instead  of  being  pro- 
tracted and  unnaturally  exciting.  They  should  have  less 
mental    exhaustion    and    more   spiritual   interest   on   the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    301 

part  of  both  pastor  and  people,  than  arc  sometimes 
thought  needful. 

The  services  of  God's  house  should  be  genuinely  devo- 
tional. 

Let  the  order  be  irregular,  the  teachings  be  illiterate, 
but  the  heart  will  save  all  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
the  devotional  element  be  absent  from  the  sanctuary 
services,  there  is  the  form  without  the  life.  The  pastor 
should  not  enter  the  sanctuary  to  lead  in  its  sacre.l 
acts  without  some  preparation  of  spirit,  without  having 
steeped  his  own  soul  in  prayer  ;  and  thus  he  may  come 
to  his  people  with  his  face  shining  from  communion 
with  God,  as  a  messenger  directly  from  the  throne. 
The  time  will  not  probably  come  for  one  invariable 
prescribed  form  of  a  universal  liturgy.  "  Christianity 
is  a  unity  of  life  developing  an  infinite  diversity  of 
expression.  A  living,  practical  Christianity  demands 
the  highest  freedom  consistent  with  truth  in  its  life 
and  worship.  The  diversity  of  individualities  probably 
increases  with  the  growth  of  Christianity.  There  is  such 
great  intellectual  activity  now  in  the  press,  and  in 
the  pulpit  also,  upon  religious  themes — a  sign  to  be 
thankful  for — that  there  is  need  of  a  deeper  devotional 
spirit  to  keep  pace  with  it,  and  to  keep  it  pure  and 
genuine.  Most  preachers  love  to  preach,  but  some  do 
not  so  much  love  to  pray.  Public  prayer  is  sometimes  a 
hard  task.  Profound  and  practical  preachers  pray  often 
in  a  most  stiff  and  stereotyped  manner.  Many  young 
preachers  dread  the  public  prayer.  But  by  it  the  pastor 
gets  power,  and  opens  communication  with  God. 
Ministers  should  direct  their  thoughts  and  energies  to  it. 
The  reason  may  be  met,  but  spiritual  life  will  not  be 
developed  until  the  channels  of  influence  and  new  life 
from  above  are  opened.     The  minister  must  learn  how  to 


302  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pray  alone  before  he  can  pray  easily  and  earnestly  in 
public,  conducting  the  souls  of  others  in  their  devotions. 
Private  prayer  makes  one  rich  in  expression  when  leading 
the  assembly  of  the  people.  He  who  prays  much  by 
himself  opens  the  fountains,  and  his  prayers  at  other 
times  run  with  easy,  abundant  flow.  He  has  power  to 
create  impulse,  and  feeling,  and  desire."  The  public 
offices  which  he  conducts  will  be  fervent  as  well  as 
decorous  and  appropriate. 

This  leads  us  to  speak  of  the  public  prayer  in  churches 
where  there   is   no   prescribed    ritual — the   prayer  of   the 

sanctuary.      As  a  prayer  to  lead  all  the  peo- 

The  public        i       •,     i        i  i  i  i  •  i         . 

pie,  it  should  have  a  comprehensive  and  out- 
prayer.       ^ 

wardly  formal  character. 

It  should  be  plain,  so  that  all  may  be  able  to  follow 
it.  At  the  same  time  it  should  not  be  carelessly  ex- 
pressed, and  the  language  should  be  choice  and  pure, 
though  simple. 

It  should  unjte  all  hearts  ;  it  should  be  common 
prayer  ;  it  should  raise  and  bear  up  the  desires  of  all 
hearts  to  God,  as  those  of  one  man  ;  it  should  have 
nothing  private,  peculiar,  personal,  exclusive  in  it. 

It  should  have  a  premeditated_order.  It  has  been 
recommended  that  young  ministers  should  wTite  out  the 
prayer  for  the  sanctuary  verbatim.  This  advice  is  good 
for  here  and  there  a  preacher,  but  we  would  certainly  not 
commend  it  to  all  ;  yet  what  is  called  in  unliturgical 
worship  "  the  long  prayer,"  and  perhaps  all  the  devo- 
tional services  of  the  sanctuary,  should  be  sufificiently 
premeditated,  in  respect  of  the  subject  of  prayer  and  the 
order  of  thought,  to  allow  of  no  confusion  or  hesitation. 
But  while  the  prayer  may  not  be  entirely  unprepared, 
there  should  be  nothing  in  it  of  a  studied,  literary,  or 
ambitious  character — nothing  to  attract  attention  by  its 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    303 

style  ;  it  should  be  the  medium  of  the  desires  of  the 
whole  congregation.  These  desires  should  be  drawn  into 
its  current,  so  that  none  can  be  listening  critically  to  its 
language,  but  joining  in  its  hearty  petitions. 

It  should  be,  in  tone  and  language,  prayer,  not 
preaching.  Even  though  the  prayer  may  be  thoughtful, 
and  deeply  subjective  often,  it  should  not  express  a  train 
of  thought  so  much  as  a  train  of  feelincr.  It  should 
humbly  and  penitently  address  God,  and  not  the  congre- 
gation. Chalmers  said  of  Edward  Irving,  "  There  was  a 
prodigious  want  of  tact  in  the  length  of  his  prayers." 
They  were  in  fact  sacred  orations. 

While  simple,  the  public  prayer  ought  not  to  be  a  rou- 
tine or  conventional  prayer.  While  it  may  not  contain 
novel,  odd,  and  startling  expressions,  yet  it  should  avoid 
hackneyed  phrases  ;  for  these  do  not  express  fresh  feeling, 
and  time  is  lost  in  their  repetition.  The  prayer  of  the 
sanctuary  ought  briefly  to  comprehend  the  occasion,  the 
theme  of  the  sermon,  the  peculiar  wants  of  the  time  and 
the  people,  and  the  common  wants  of  all  times  and  of 
every  people.  Its  variety  should  come  from  its  being 
drawn  from,  the  subject  of  the  sermon,  or  from  the  thoughts 
and  feelings  awakened  by  meditation  upon  a  particular 
portion  of  divine  truth.  All  expressions  lacking  dignit}' 
in  the  direct  address  to  God  ;  all  flippant  familiarity  with 
the  Almighty,  or  even  the  carrying  of  a  childlike  manner 
of  expression  to  too  great  an  extreme  ;  all  petitions 
which  play  around  local  facts  or  events,  and  which  in- 
form Omniscience  of  what  has  occurred  ;  and,  above  all, 
every  expression  that  contains  personal  praise — these, 
simple  good  taste,  to  say  nothing  of  a  higher  sentiment, 
would  lead  us  to  avoid.  Neither  human  praise  nor  blame 
may  be  administered  in  prayer,  but  God  should  be  the 
predominating  thought. 


304  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

There  should  be  a  Christian  tenderness  of  tone  in 
the  pubHc  prayer,  and  in  cases  of  affliction,  and  under 
pecuh'ar  circumstances,  this  common  prayer  might  dwell 
for  a  moment  upon  personal  particulars,  upon  the  circum- 
stances of  families  or  individuals  of  the  congregation. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  this  is  the  peculiarly  devo- 
tional part  of  the  services,  the  pure  breathings  of  spiritual 
desire,  which  lend  to  all  parts  a  true  tone,  glow,  and 
unction.  This  common  prayer  for  common  wants  recog- 
nizes the  Holy  Ghost  as  the  Helper,  and  calls  down  the 
sanctifying  influences  of  the  Spirit  to  pervade  and  unite 
the  whole  worship  ;  for  the  true  communion  with  God  in 
public  worship  is  essential  to  the  communion  of  saints 
with  each  other. 

The  services  of  God's  house,  lastly,  should  be  full  of  the 
new  hope,  joy,  and  immortal  life  of  Christ. 

The  character  of  the  worship  of  the  sanctuary  on  the 
Lord's  day,  the  day  of  him  who  rose  from  death  and 
triumphed  over  evil,  ought  to  be  predominantly  one 
of  joy,  not  of  gloom.  It  is  indeed  ''dies  solis,"  where 
the  full-risen  sun  of  divine  love  and  peace  shines  clearly  ; 
and  this  was  the  earliest  view  of  the  day,  and  of  its  com- 
forting, strengthening,  delightful  services.'  The  element 
of  "  glad  rest,"  the  joyful  and  festival  element,  brought 
into  the  worship  of  the  Christian  sanctuary  by  the  great 
fact  of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  of  his  gift  of  "  eternal 
life,"  may  never  be  lost  sight  of.  One  should  not  ob- 
tain the  idea  from  the  worship  of  the  Christian  sanctu- 
ary that  he  might  as  well  be  in  a  pagan  temple.  The 
prayers,  songs,  sermon,  should  have  their  living  unity  in 
Christ — should  all  breathe  of  him  and  of  his  love,  through 


'  Justin   Martyr,  Apol.   ad   Anton.    Pius  ;  Ignatius,    ad  Magnes,   c.  9  ; 
Tertullian,  ad  Nationes,  i,  3. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    305 

whose  complete  offering  a  new  approach  to  the  throne  of 
grace  is  made,  and  a  pure  spiritual  worship  is  rendered 
possible.  There  can  be,  indeed,  no  true  Christian  wor- 
ship out  of  Christ,  or  without  the  idea  of  sacrifice.  We 
come  to  God  through  him  who  has  made  God  known  to 
us,  who  has  shown  us  the  Father,  who  has  opened  to  us, 
sinners,  a  way  of  access  to  the  Holiest.  Vinet  says, 
"  Every  hour  of  worship  should  present  an  entire  Christ 
to  the  soul  of  the  believer." 


Sec.  17.    Church  Music. 

There  is  no  element  of  w^orship  which  so  fuses  the  feel- 
ings and  affections  into  one  holy  emotion,  and  thus 
brings  the  riches  of  the  heart  into  the  service  of  God,  as 
church  song  ;  as  it  is  said  in  Colossians  (3  :  16),  "  Let 
the  Word  of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom, 
teaching  and  admonishing  one  another  in  psalms  and 
hymns  and  spiritual  songs,  singing  with  grace'  in  your 
hearts  to  the  Lord."  Also  in  Eph.  5  :  19,  and  i  Cor. 
14  :  26,  reference  is  made  to  inspired  songs,  which 
formed  a  transition  between  the  gifts  of  tongues  and 
teaching,  giving  vent  to  deep  and  ardent  feeling,  though 
none  of  these  first  psalms  have  come  down  to  us.  "  If 
any  man  have  a  psalm,  let  him  speak."  There  are  traces 
of  lyrical  inspiration  in  the  Epistles,  as  the  close  of  the 
eighth  chapter  of  Romans  ;  the  thirteenth  of  first  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians  ;  i  Tim.  3  :  16  ;  Eph.  5  :  14.  These 
passages  give  us  some  conception  of  what  inspired  song 
was,  as  first  heard  in  the  primitive  Christian  assemblies.' 
Derived  from  the  most  ancient  Hebrew  worship  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  song  of  Moses,  the  Psalms  of  David,  the 


'  See  De  Pressense's  "  Earlj*  Years  of  Christian  Church,"  p.  372. 


3o6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

musical  culture  of  the  schools  of  the  prophets,  the  temple 
and  synagogue  worship,  it  flowed  naturally  into  the  ser- 
vice of  the  Christian  sanctuary,  and  was  used  by  the 
Saviour  himself  in  the  singing  of  the  greater  Hallel  at  the 
institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper.  "  There  is  no  doubt  but 
the  whole  congregation  took  part  in  the  oldest  church 
song,  and  in  proportion  as  the  simple  liturgy  took  on 
more  copious  forms,  church  song  also  began  to  take  a 
higher  flight,  lauded  with  ardent  encomium  by  an 
Ambrose,  a  Basil,  and  others.  According  to  the  Con- 
fessions of  Augustine,  whose  testimony  is  later,  the 
church  song  appears,  at  least  in  the  West,  to  have  been 
at  first  intoned  with  a  very  moderate  inflection  of  the 
voice,  "  ita  lit pronimcianti  vicinior  cssct  quavi  caneiiti." 
From  the  time  of  the  fourth  century,  however,  we  see  a 
change  takingplace  in  this  respect  :  church  singers  (ipdXrai, 
cantores)  began  to  make  their  appearance,  and  to  lead 
the  singing  of  the  congregation  ;  as  also  singing  in  parts, 
probably  introduced  by  Ignatius  at  Antioch  in  Syria,  be- 
comes more  generally  prevalent,  and  is  most  powerfully 
advanced,  especially  in  the  East,  by  Chrysostom  and 
Basil  of  Caesarea.  Transplanted  into  the  West,  it 
quickly  caused  the  fame  of  the  Ambrosian  church  song 
to  resound  in  the  ears  of  all." 

The  pastor,  as  the  leader  of  the  worship  of  the  church, 
may  do  much  to  regulate  this  all-important  department 
of  public  praise  ;  and  it  depends  upon  him,  in  a  great 
measure,  whether  it  be  worthy  of  God's  service,  and 
promotive  of  true  worship,  or  something  isolated, 
wholly  artistic,  and  unspiritual.  The  pastor,  indeed, 
should  love  the  sanctuary  and  all  that  belongs  to  it — 
as  is  said  in  the  eighty-fourth  Psalm,  of  the  migratory 


'  Van  Oosterzee's  "  Prac.  Theol.,"  p.  386. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    307 

birds  in  the  spring,  that  return  to  their  accustomed 
haunts — he  should  dwell  in  it,  and  still  praise  God  as  his 
chief  joy. 

Sacred  music  should  be  simple  and  pure — almost  severe 
— in  character,  grand  and  elevated  in  movement,  so  as  to 
express  the  thought  of  immortality,  and  to  bear  up  the 
soul  on  its  strong  wings  to  heaven.  It  may  be  also 
fervid  and  varied,  expressing  warmth  of  religious  feeling 
and  the  spontaneous  desires  of  the  heart. 

Music  is  naturally  the  expression  of  Joy,  as  prayer  is 
of  affliction  :  thus  James  says  (5  :  13),  "  Is  any  among 
you  afflicted  ?  let  him  pray.  Is  any  merry  ?  let  him  sing 
psalms."  Much  of  the  dulness  of  church  music  arises, 
doubtless,  from  the  slow  and  languid  movement  with 
which  hymns  are  sung  ;  much  of  it  to  its  mere  loudness, 
without  science  or  taste  ;  it  is  owing  partly  to  want  of  in- 
terest, and  partly  to  the  want  of  a  cultivated  taste. 
Church  music  should  never  be  toned  down  to  a  painfully 
scientific  precision,  but  may  have  considerable  freedom, 
irregularity,  and  range — though  it  should  be  (that  was 
Mendelssohn's  noble  idea,  and  to  which  he  gave  his  life) 
the  best  music  artistically — i.e.,  the  best  fitted  for  the 
house  of  God,  the  most  nearly  conformed  to  the  true 
principles  of  art  in  church  music,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
freest  and  most  full  of  life  ;  yet,  as  art  in  religion  should 
be  secondary  to  higher  ends,  sacred  music  had  better  lack 
high  scientific  refinement  than  display  much  of  scientific 
skill.  The  province  of  music  in  worship  is  not  to  please 
the  trained  musical  ear,  nor  even  to  give  variety  and 
attraction  to  the  public  service,  but  simply  to  be  the 
medium  and  breath  of  the  common  devotions  of  the 
people. 

But  we  would  not  be  misunderstood  here  ;  we  would 
claim  for  art  its  proper  place  both  in  life  and  in    the  re- 


3o8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ligious  life  and  worship  ;  it  has  too  long  been  looked 
upon  as  an  outcast  upon  which  unintelligent,  even  if 
sincere  abuse  has  been  heaped.  Art  is  as  truly  an  ex- 
pression, an  inevitable  expression  of  human  thought  and 
feeling,  as  are  literature,  philosophy,  and  religion.  It 
enters  into  these  as  it  does  into  all  methods  and  acts  of 
the  mind.  Without  it  a  sermon  could  not  be  preached  or 
a  hymn  sung.  Art  is  the  application  of  fit  means  to  high 
and  worthy  ends.  It  has  nothing  specious  or  falsely  arti- 
ficial, and  when  we  look  at  it  in  its  profounder  aesthetic 
sense  as  the  subtle  interpreter  of  nature  and  the  divine 
thought,  of  the  harmonies  and  beauties  that  lie  hid  in  the 
v/orlds  of  nature  and  spirit,  we  do  wrong  to  exclude  it 
from  religious  things,  and  the  worship  of  God.  We  can- 
not if  we  would.  Let  us  recognize  it  as  a  divine  fact  and 
method,  and  sanctify  it  to  God's  praise.  Therefore  we  say 
that  the  best  church  music  is  true  art — the  worst  church 
music,  false  art.  False  art  goes  upon  wrong  principles. 
It  does  not  obey  the  laws  of  religious  music.  It  does 
not  touch  the  springs  of  devotion  that  lie  deep.  It  has 
not  the  simplicity,  severity,  purity,  truth,  that  the  great 
religious  musicians  and  poets  have  aimed  after  from  King 
David  to  Milton,  Handel,  Charles  Wesley,  Keble,  Men- 
delssohn. Therefore  to  say  that  art  should  be  secondary 
to  devotion  is  not  to  say  that  art,  rightly  viewed,  has 
anything  irreligious  in  it  or  unfit  for  the  house  of  wor- 
ship, though  false  art  has.  It  is  only  saying  that  art  is 
not  an  end  but  a  means,  even  as  preaching  is  a  means  to 
the  higher  end  of  glorifying  God.  He  who  has  grasped 
in  his  idea  even  the  best  Greek  art,  pagan  as  it  is,  who 
has  truly  studied  the  Niobe  and  the  Laocoon,  would 
never  depreciate  art,  would  never  talk  of  art  being  a 
merely  sensual  thing,  for  the  amusement  of  eye  and  ear 
merely  ;  that  it  has  no  higher  ofifice  and  relation   to  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    309 

wants  of  the  soul  ;  that  it  has  no  rehgious  element,  or 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  a  Christian  art,  which  is  a 
true  outcome  of  the  Christian  spirit,  which  is  a  pure  and 
loving  if  humble  minister  to  the  holy  offices  of  our  re- 
ligion. 

The  foundation  of  Protestant  church  music,  says 
Hagenbach,  is  the  choral.'  The  choral  {cantus  plenus, 
plein  chant)  was  a  very  early  institution  in  the  ^.  ,  , 
Church  ;  and  while  gradually  given  up  by  the  the  founda- 
Roman  Catholic  and  Greek  churches,  it  was  tionofProt- 
held  upon,  or  rather  revived,  by  the  Reformed  estant 
churches,  as  a  means  of  spiritual  reforma- 
tion. Indeed,  the  very  idea  of  church  music  necessitates 
a  full  chorus,  or  united  song,  and  does  not  allow  of  the 
single  voice,  or  the  solo;  and  it  hardly  allows  of  the 
church  choir,  which  is  a  later  innovation  ;  unless,  indeed, 
the  choir  is  joined  with  the  singing  of  the  congrega- 
tion. The  true  way,  we  think,  to  carry  out  the  highest 
idea  of  church  music,  is  to  have  the  thoroughly  trained 
church  choir  and  the  common  congregational  singing 
combined.  The  choir  is  for  the  purpose  of  teaching 
and  upholding  the  congregation,  and  should  be  in  strict 
organic  and  spiritual  relationship  with  the  worshipping 
people — should  form  a  part  of  the  true  Christian  con- 
gregation. But  in  choir-singing  there  are  four  things 
to  be  considered  which  render  it  at  best  a  precari- 
ous vehicle  for  common  devotion  :  in  choir-music  the 
congregation  involuntarily  listens,  not  participates  ;  its 
implied  object  is  musical  gratification  ;  the  attitude  of 
the  audience  is  unfavorable  for  devotion  ;  it  requires  the 
slow  and  measured  pace  of  musical  utterance.  Choir- 
music,  in  a  word,  represents  an  ornamental  or  impres- 


'  Grundlinien  der  Liturgik  und  Homiletik,  p.  43. 


3IO  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

sive    style    of   church    song  ;    congregational   singing,    a 
devotional.' 

"  About  the  worst  use  a  congregation  can  make  of  a 
choir  is  to  leave  it  to  do  the  singing  for  the  people.  To 
say  nothing  of  human  worship  by  proxy,  the  congrega- 
tion which  leaves  the  choir  to  do  all  the  singing  misses 
many  advantages.  Yet  this  is  too  often  the  case,  and  in 
some  quarters  increasingly  so.  In  too  many  places  of 
worship  the  work  of  the  choir  is  becoming  a  separate  and 
independent  performance,  and  the  body  of  the  congrega- 
tion look  on  with  indifference  or  listen  with  interest,  as 
the  case  may  be.  You  may  call  it  a  Sunday  concert  in 
the  house  of  God,  but  never  call  it  congregational  wor- 
ship, when  the  people  pay  little  heed  to  the  singing,  and 
take  little  personal  part  in  it.  Either  the  congregations 
should  take  more  part  and  interest  in  the  vocal  worship, 
or  leave  it  to  the  choir  altogether,  merely  following  them, 
programme  in  hand,  as  at  an  oratorio.  Few  congregations 
are  prepared  for  such  a  decision  as  would  exclude  them 
altogether  from  the  singing  part  of  the  worship  except  as 
listeners.  Then,  if  they  would  not  give  up  their  right  to 
sing,  let  them  show  their  appreciation  of  the  privilege  by 
more  skilful  and  hearty  singing.  Good  congregational 
singing  is  not  to  be  had  without  toil  and  cost.  If  it 
could  come  by  merely  wishing  for  it,  then  many  congre- 
gations would  sing  much  better  than  they  do.  They 
need  to  inform  themselves  what  really  is  good  congrega- 
tional singing,  and  then  lay  themselves  out  for  it  accord- 
ingly. A  minister  cannot  from  the  pulpit  give  much 
advice  about  singing  ;  still  less  can  he  go  into  the  details 
of  art  criticism.  A  few  remarks  occasionally,  calling 
upon  all  the  congregation  to  join   more  heartily  in  the 


'  See  Willis's  "  Church  Music,"  p.  24. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    31 1 


singing,  is  the  most  that  he  can  undertake  with  propriety 
and  success.  The  congregation  needs  to  be  called 
together  apart  from  worship,  and  solely  for  practice  and 
instruction  in  the  vocal  art.  A  skilful  and  judicious 
teacher  can  soon  point  out  the  usual  faults  and  lead  them 
on  by  intelligent  practice  to  better  work.  Occasional 
practice  in  congregational  singing  is  indispensable,  and 
there  is  no  first-class  work  done  without  it.  The  exer- 
cises for  the  production  of  the  voice  should  be  gone 
through,  as  also  exercises  in  the  different  intervals  and 
through  various  keys.  A  month's  practice  of  this  kind 
will  be  of  more  use  for  improvement  than  the  singing  of 
a  hundred  tunes.  Those  who  take  part  in  the  psalmody 
of  the  congregation  should  be  encouraged  to  practice  the 
exercises  at  home.  The  unison  practice  has  many  advan- 
tages, but  it  does  not  supersede  private  practice.  The 
defects  of  the  voice  may  be  pointed  out  very  clearly  in 
the  singing  class.  They  can  be  most  effectually  cor- 
rected by  private  practice  ;  and  those  who  will  persevere 
in  private  for  only  half  an  hour  a  day  will  soon  be  able  to 
make  a  better  public  contribution  to  the  general  worship 
of  song."  ' 

We  cannot  enter  into  the  endlessly  prolific  theme  of 
Hymnology  ;  but  evidently  perfection  has  not  yet  been 

arrived  at   in  any  of  our  numerous  books  of 

Hymnology. 
sacred  song,  although  an  advance  has  been 

made,  in  the  right  direction,  in  the  character  and  the 
catholicity  of  the  collections.  Our  books,  however,  have 
still  too  much  in  them  that  is  unlyricaland  unfit  for  pub- 
He  service.  There  is  a  vast  deal  of  religious  poetry  ex- 
tant, but  few  men  have  written  hymns  proper  for  the 
worship  of  the  sanctuary  and  that  live  in  the  heart  of 


'  The  Cornhill  Masrazine. 


312  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  Church  ;  we  could  count  the  names  of  such  upon  our 
fingers.  This,  indeed,  is  a  rare  charisma.  Hymns  that 
cannot  be  sung,  and  that  are  not  sung,  should  be  stricken 
out  of  public  collections.  Hymns  not  adapted  to  easy 
melodies — purely  didactic  hymns,  preaching  or  dogmatic 
hymns,  unpoetical  or  too  poetical  hymns,  hymns  that 
the  instinct  of  a  true  leader  avoids — these  should  not  re- 
main in  the  hymn-book.  Perhaps  not  half  the  hymns  in 
our  hymn-books  are  purely  devotional,  or  truly  lyrical,  or 
entirely  adapted  to  the  service  of  common  praise.  They 
are  intellectual  and  too  prosaic.  "  Music  has  nothing  to 
do  primarily  with  the  intellect.  For  though  it  has  the 
power  of  suggesting  thought,  it  cannot  do  so  when  the 
words  themselves,  with  which  it  is  wedded,  put  a  definite 
thought  into  the  mind.  The  suggestive  power  of  music 
only  comes  in  play  when  disconnected  with  all  words— 
when  it  appeals  to  the  intellect  or  thought-power  through 
the  emotions  which  it  excites — for  in  this  way  does  music 
address  itself  to  the  intellect."'  Christian  song  should 
have  thought,  or  suggest  definite  ideas,  for  if  it  do  not  it 
would  be  singing  as  well  as  praying  "  without  the  under- 
standing ;"  but  music  chiefly  has  to  do  with  the  emo- 
tions. These  are  not  the  mere  surface  sensibilities,  but 
those  lying  in  the  inmost  depths  of  the  moral  and 
religious  nature.  In  fact,  the  musician  as  well  as  the 
lyrist  should  have  depth  of  moral  character  and  a  com- 
prehensive culture  of  his  faculties,  so  that  he  may  be  an 
interpreter  of  the  profoundest  wants  of  the  soul.  It  is  a 
wrong  idea  that  a  song- maker  should  trust  wholly  to 
nature  or  grace  and  not  at  all  to  art,  since  he  thus  tends 
to  run  in  a  groove,  even  as  some  of  the  hymn-makers  of 
the  Church  have     done,    till   having   struck    one    chord 


'  Willis's  "  Church  Music,"  p.  93. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    313 

sweetly,  almost  with  angelic  skill,  they  could  do  no 
more,  they  could  soar  no  higher,  and  the  reverberations 
grow  less  and  less  distinct,  less  and  less  moving.  This 
is  not  the  case  with  Keble,  who  has  fresh  thought.  The 
function  of  the  hymn-maker  is  to  cause  us  to  feel  the 
living  reality  of  spiritual  things,  to  inspire  those  strong 
emotions  that  lift  us  into  a  higher  plane  of  love  and  duty 
and  fit  us  for  living  divinely.  Keble's  "  Christian  Year" 
feeds  the  soul  as  well  as  the  religious  sensibilities  ;  it 
helps  the  daily  Christian  life  ;  it  carries  us  over  rugged 
places,  and  breathes  into  us  unselfish,  heroic,  Christ-like 
thoughts.  The  hymn-book  should  be  a  loved  and  favorite 
book  among  the  people  ;  it  should  be  in  the  hands  and 
in  the  hearts  of  the  congregation  ;  therefore  it  should  not 
be  bulky,  nor  contain  many  hymns  that  do  not  have  root 
in  the  common  faith  and  affection — that  are  abstract, 
studied,  and  subjective.  Old  hymns  that  have  borne  the 
wear  and  tear  of  ages  ;  those  that  are,  in  fact,  reproduc- 
tions of  the  most  ancient  hymns  of  the  Church,  as  the 
"  Veni,  Creator  Spiritiis,"  and  hymns  that  have  their  in- 
spiration from  the  word  and  spirit  of  God — true  Christian 
hymns,  in  which  Christ  and  his  praises  are  sung — those  are 
the  best.  As  to  the  tunes,  they  may,  and  perhaps  should, 
comprehend  the  four  parts  suited  to  male  and  female 
voices — to  all  voices  ;  yet  it  must  be  said  that  the  best 
judges  of  music  in  Germany  prefer  that  the  congregational 
singing  in  the  churches  should  be  unisonal,  all  following 
the  air.  The  tunes  should  be  suited  to  the  spirit  and 
character  of  the  hymns  ;  notwithstanding  Wesley's  famous 
aphorism,  the  tunes  ought  not  to  have  light  and  degrading 
associations.  The  transmigration  of  tunes  is  said  to  be  a 
very  curious  study  by  which  we  find  that  good  Christian 
worshippers  are  now  devoutly  singing  tunes  that  have  had 
a  popular  and    sometimes  even  bacchanalian  origin,   as 


314  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

"  There  is  a  land  of  pure  delight,"  which  once  was  sung 
to  the  words  of  "  Drink  to  me  only  with  thine  eyes  ;" 
and  "  Hark,  hark,  my  soul,  angelic  notes  are  swelling," 
chimes  most  fairly  with  the  tune  of  ''La  Siiisscsse  au  bord 
du  lac.'' 

The  practice  of  playing  long  voluntaries  and  interludes, 
breaking  the  current  of  united  song,  is  to  be  reprobated. 
The  organ  is  a  noble  instrument,  wonderfully  adapted  to 
church  music  ;  "  it  dwells  in  the  house  of  God,  and  is  en- 
throned in  holiness — a  church  within  a  church  ;"  it  should, 
nevertheless,  keep  its  own  place,  and  act  a  humble  part. 
It  should  merely  aid  and  accompany  the  songs  of  the 
church,  and  not  usurp  an  exclusive  place  in  the  services  of 
the  sanctuary.  How  often  is  the  impression  of  a  tender  and 
spiritual  service  entirely  destroyed  by  some  performer's 
playing,  in  thunder  tones,  an  opera  march  to  accompany 
or  hustle  people  out  of  the  church  !  On  the  contrary, 
they  should  be  led  out  with  the  parting  benediction 
of  peaceful  and  solemn  music  resting  upon  them,  not 
blown  out  as  from  the  mouth  of  a  piece  of  musical 
ordnance. 

We  would  give  some  brief  reasons  for  the  adoption  of 
a  more  general  style  of  congregational   sing- 
Reasons  for  ing  in  our  churches. 

congrega-         j^  j^  scriptural,  and  in  accordance  with  the 
tional  sing-         .  .       ,  ^,    .     .      .  ^,      ^     ,  ^ 

.  spirit  of  Christianity.     1  he  first  song  of  praise 

given  us  in  the   Bible  is  the  song  of   Moses 

(Ex.  15).      "  Then  sang  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel 

this  song  unto    the   Lord  .   .   .   and  Miriam  and  all  the 

women  answered  them."      Here  are  both  congregational 

singing  and  responsive  or  choral  singing  united.      In  the 

Hebrew  worship,  although  instrumental  choirs  were  in  use, 

and  were  made  a  prominent  feature  of  the  musical  service 

of  the  sanctuary,  yet  the  whole  congregation  joined  in  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    315 

choruses.  "  Let  the  people  praise  thee,  O  God  ;  let  all 
the  people  praise  thee, "was  the  spirit  of  the  worship. 
"  Both  young  men  and  maidens,  old  men  and  children," 
united  in  the  song  of  praise.  The  whole  assembly  was 
divided  into  three  parts,  or  choirs — into  priests,  Levites, 
and  the  great  congregation.  (See  i  Chron.  15  :  16-25  i 
25  :  1-8.)  This  arrangement  was  for  antiphonal  choral 
singing.  (See  also  Nehemiah's  account  of  the  dedication 
of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  Neh.  12.)  But  among  the  early 
Christians,  such  a  thing  as  even  a  choir  was  entirely  un- 
known. In  the  time  of  Pliny,  he  tells  us  the  assembly 
sang  a  hymn  together,  "  Camienque  CJiristo,  quasi  Deo, 
dicerc  sccuvi  inincon,"  probably  a  kind  of  metrical  prayer 
sung  or  recited  rhythmically  at  the  public  services  and 
feasts  of  love'  The  singing  of  all  the  people  at  the  com- 
munion table,  which  has  descended  to  our  times,  was  un- 
doubtedly the  general  mode  of  singing  of  the  primitive 
Christians.  It  was  not,  as  has  been  seen,  until  the 
fourth  century,  in  the  beginning  of  spiritual  decline, 
when  the  true  spirit  of  Christianity  was  dying  out  or 
being  replaced  by  a  hierarchical  unity,  that  the  distinct 
choir  was  introduced.  Pope  Celestine  enjoined  that  the 
Psalms  of  David  should  be  sung  antiphonally.  An  ec- 
clesiastical historian  says,  "  A  distinct  class  of  persons 
was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  this  part  of  religious 
worship  ;  but  the  people  continued  to  enjoy,  in  some 
measure,  their  ancient  privilege  of  singing  together,  join- 
ing occasionally  in  the  chorus  and  singing  the  re- 
sponses." 

Returning,  then,  to  general  congregational  singing,  is 
returning  to  the  method  of  the  primitive  Church,  and  it 
best  expresses  the  social  spirit  of  our  faith.     United  song 

'  Lib.  X.  Ep.  97. 


3l6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

lifts  hearts  above  all  walls  of  separation,  and  enables  them 
to  flow  together,  if  the  object  of  the  song  is  divine. 

"  For  all  we  know 
Of  what  the  blessed  do  above 
Is,  that  they  sing  and  that  they  love." 

This  communion  of  hearts  in  song  cannot  be  realized  so 
well  in  choir-singing  ;  for  listening  to  the  singing  of 
others  is  to  remain  one's  self  in  a  passive  condition.  We 
may  be  delighted,  softened,  and  thrilled  by  the  music, 
but  the  heart  is  not  stirred  as  in  the  act  of  singing  one's 
self.  The  effect  is  assthetical,  not  devotional.  The 
deepest  springs  of  emotion  are  not  touched,  and  the 
melody  in  the  heart  is  not  heard.  When  the  novelty  of 
congregational  singing  is  worn  off,  the  heart  of  the  peo- 
ple goes  out  in  spontaneous  worship  of  God  while  singing 
in  accord  together,  each  forgetting  himself,  and  all  borne 
up  by  the  sacred  words  into  which  the  voice  and  heart 
are  thrown.  Therefore  we  believe  there  is  more  of  true 
worship,  and  more  of  true  honor  of  Christ,  in  congrega- 
tional singing,  than  in  any  other  kind  of  church  music. 

It  fills  an  important  want  in  public  worship.  It  makes 
it  common  ;  whereas,  as  it  is  sometimes  conducted,  it  is 
the  least  so  of  all  modes  of  worship.  We  often  depend 
upon  the  stimulus  of  the  sermon  to  keep  people  interested. 
There  is  not  enough  of  the  gentle,  healthful,  and  simple  ac- 
tion of  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  people,  while  them- 
selves participating  in  the  solemn  and  joyful  services  of  the 
Lord's  house.  Diffusive  congregational  singing  would  go 
far  to  remedy  this  serious  evil  ;  and,  as  has  been  said, 
this  method  is  the  true  Protestant  method  of  church 
music.  Gregory  I.  reintroduced  the  Ambrosian  song 
or  chant  in  the  place  of  the  choral,  thus  limiting  again 
the  people's  share  in  the   singing  ;   and,  in  opposition  to 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    317 

this  Roman  Catholic  choir-singing,  the  congregational 
mode  was  introduced  into  the  Reformed  churches  chiefly 
through  Luther,  and  became  a  mighty  instrument  of  ref- 
ormation in  Germany,  Switzerland,  Scotland,  and  Eng- 
land. Papal  writers  fulminated  against  it,  as  an  instrument 
of  fanaticism  and  revolution.  It  was  the  singing  of  the 
people,  in  contrast  to  the  singing  of  the  priests.  It  was 
earnestly  adopted  and  employed  by  the  English  Re- 
formers, who,  however,  disapproved  of  the  use  of  the 
organ  and  the  singing  of  responses,  not  liking  what  they 
called  "  the  tossing  of  the  psalms  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  with  interminglings  of  organs."  The  Westminster 
Assembly  approved  of  this  method  of  singing  in  these 
words  :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  praise  God  pub- 
licly by  the  singing  of  psalms  together  in  the  congrega- 
tion, and  also  privately  in  the  family.  In  singing  of 
psalms  the  voice  is  to  be  tunably  ordered  ;  but  the  chief 
care  must  be  to  sing  with  understanding,  making  melody 
unto  the  Lord  with  the  heart  as  well  as  with  the  voice." 
Congregational  singing  is  still  the  mode  in  the  European 
Protestant  Reformed  churches,  especially  in  Scotland  and 
Germany.  In  the  city  churches  of  Germany  the  choir  is 
added,  to  sing  more  elaborate  introductory  and  occasional 
pieces  ;  but  in  the  ordinary  singing  all  the  people  join, 
and  sing  with  a  heart,  with  a  full  voice,  unto  the  Lord. 
No  one  thinks  of  his  own  singing,  but  each  seems  to  be 
absorbed  in  the  simple  act  of  worship.  There  is  not  much 
of  elaborate  melody  or  tune  to  the  hymns,  only  a  certain 
measured  rhythm,  almost  monotonous  in  its  effect  ;  but 
one  never  loses  the  idea  that  it  is  a  real  part  of  the  wor- 
ship ;  and,  at  times,  in  the  larger  congregations,  the 
wave  or  swell  of  sound  is  majestic,  although  the  artistic 
effect  is  the  last  thing  thought  of. 

It  is  expressive  and  promotive   of  a   spirit   of   revived 


3i8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

religious  life.  It  is  a  noticeable  fact,  that  In  times  of 
spiritual  reformation  Christians  instinctively  resume  con- 
gregational singing,  like  streams  that  in  time  of  freshet 
flow  together.  Now  there  must  be  some  connection  be- 
tween the  two  facts.  New  converts  love  to  sing  ;  and  as 
men  become  more  deeply  interested  in  spiritual  things, 
more  filled  with  the  thoughts,  feelings,  and  joys  of  Christ's 
kingdom,  they  give  utterance  to  these  new  emotions  in 
united  song.  Congregational  singing  is  an  untrammelled 
and  joyful  expression  of  the  heart  ;  it  is  also  a  humble  ex- 
pression of  religious  emotion.  The  individual  is  lost  in 
the  multitude  ;  all  are  brought  to  the  same  level  ;  the 
spirit  of  criticism  is  expelled.  No  one  says,  "  How  finely 
that  was  sung  !"  but  each  one  feels  that  it  is  good  to  sing, 
because  God  is  good,  and  is  to  be  praised  and  adored  by 
all.  If  one  voice  is  too  high,  or  another  too  low — if  one 
is  too  shrill,  or  another  too  harsh— what  matters  it  ?  It 
is  a  stream  of  united  praise  to  the  Most  High,  that  flows, 
even  if  it  flows  like  a  mountain  torrent  full  of  rocks  and 
breaks,  toward  the  ocean  of  God's  glory.  True  religious 
impressions  are  often  made  by  congregational  singing, 
where  the  spirit  of  praise  and  love  abounds.  Its 
humility,  its  good  feeling,  its  expression  of  union  and 
brotherhood,  its  simplicity  and  fervor — these  penetrate 
and  affect  the  hearts  of  even  unbelieving  men.  Many 
men  have  been  converted  by  the  simple  hymn  in  which 
all  Christians  join,  who  have  stood  out  against  the 
preaching,  which  Is  the  expression  of  one  mind  and  heart. 
Thus,  music  may  sometimes  become  not  only  the  means 
of  expression,  but  the  means  of  Impression — of  deep  and 
lasting  Impression,  Congregational  singing  is  also  an 
economical  method.  Church  music,  as  every  pastor  and 
paying  church-member  knows,  is  an  expensive  item  ;  but 
in  diffusive  sin^In";  the  whole  matter  of  church  music  be- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    319 

comes  more  an  affair  of  the  church-membership  itself,  and 
tends  to  develop  the  talents  of  the  church,  and  thus  a 
church  is  led  gradually,  as  it  should  do,  to  depend  less 
and  less  upon  the  world  outside,  and  to  be  sufficient  in 
itself  for  all  its  needs,  even  of  the  most  practical  and 
scientific  kind.  "  Any  one  who  has  a  "  musical  gift"  may 
thus  employ  it  for  God's  praise,  and  do  as  much  for  the 
glory  of  his  name,  and  give  as  much  to  the  cause  of 
Christ,  by  voluntarily  practising  that  gift  in  singing  with 
the  congregation,  and  in  teaching  the  congregation  how 
to  sing  God's  praise,  as  in  any  other  way. 

But  congregational  singing  cannot  be  perfected  in  a 
day,  for  it  is  a  great  work,  a  great  consummation,  which 
must  be  skilfully  and  patiently  labored  for.  Of  course, 
as  has  been  said,  there  must  be  some  correct  knowledge 
of  music  in  the  congregation,  and  the  people  must  have 
striven  to  cultivate  themselves  in  this  respect  before  any 
adequate  result  can  be  obtained.  All  the  children  and 
youth  should  be  taught  to  sing  in  the  public  schools,  in 
the  family,  in  the  Sunday-schools,  and  in  the  church 
musical  training  schools.  There  should  be,  at  first,  a 
leader,  a  choir  sitting  with  the  congregation  and  mingled 
with  them,  or  perhaps  on  the  front  seats,  and  an  organ  ; 
for  the  attempt  to  introduce  congregational  singing  by 
summarily  and  entirely  discarding  the  use  of  the  choir, 
is  one  reason  why  it  has  so  often  failed.  It  is  a  grand 
mistake,  we  again  say,  to  think  that  church  music  is  not 
art  ;  it  is  true  art,  the  pure  expression  of  the  devotional 
spirit  in  music,  that  spirit  kept  in  the  bounds  of  order, 
taste,  and  the  severe  rules  of  science,  and  yet  breathing 
the  free  harmonies  of  the  soul  in  acts  of  love  and  praise 
of  the  Most  High.  Mendelssohn's  as  well  as  Sebastian 
Bach's  ecclesiastical  music  was  the  highest  triumph  of 
art — an  art  that  often  requires  as  exact  and  logical  think- 


320  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ing  as  any  branch  of  higher  mathematics.  It  was  in 
accordance  with  the  profound  laws  of  harmony  in  the 
universe  God  made.  Music  does  not  come  from  heaven 
in  the  sense  that  human  effort  is  not  needed  to  attain  it  ; 
and  perhaps  some  individuals  cannot  acquire  it  at  all, 
though  we  believe  that  there  are  few  who  cannot  learn  to 
join  in  the  singing  of  public  worship.  In  Germany  all 
sing  because  they  have  been  educated  from  childhood  to 
do  so.  We,  as  a  nation,  have  also  the  native  musical 
ability,  but  not  always  the  musical  cultivation.  Shall  a 
beginning  never  be  made  ?  Shall  we  sit  dumb  in  the 
Lord's  house  forever?  The  tunes  selected  should  be  at 
first  plain  and  simple — the  old  familiar  church  tunes,  in 
which  there  is  real  genius  and  melody,  not  the  easy- 
going jingling  tunes  of  the  modern  revival  order  that  will 
go  out  of  fashion  because  not  founded  upon  true  princi- 
ples of  musical  science,  but  tunes  having  little  of  difficult 
variation  or  rapid  changes  ;  for  we  want  no  delicate  turns, 
nor  brilliant  effects,  in  congregational  singing,  but  some- 
thing free  and  grand  in  movement  ;  and  it  should  be 
thoroughly  understood  that  all  are  to  join  in  the 
endeavor.  It  is  to  be  congregational  singing  ;  the  whole 
congregation  is  to  be  compromised  for  the  success  of  the 
good  experiment,  and  every  one  is  to  feel  a  personal  re- 
sponsibility. Let  it  be  understood  (and  the  pastor  must 
be  the  chief  leader  in  the  work)  that  this  part  of  the  ser- 
vice is  to  be  reformed ;  is  to  be  brought  back  to  the  true 
congregational  way  ;  is  to  be  changed  from  the  Romish 
choir-singing  to  the  primitive  apostolic  singing  of  all  the 
people  ;  is  to  mean  something  ;  is  to  be  true  worship  ; 
and  that  every  one  is  to  sing  the  praises  of  God.  If 
that  is  done,  then  God  will  bless  that  part  of  the 
worship  of  his  sanctuary  ;  and  we  venture  to  predict 
that  a  new  religious    life  will    come   in   with    congrega- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    321 

tional  singing  ;  for  then  the  people  will  not  be  listeners 
but  worshippers. 


Sec.  18.  Preaching. 

Preaching,  viewed  as  a  constituent  part  of  public  wor- 
ship and  also  of  the  pastor's  duties,  demands  attention 
in  any  thorough  work  upon  Pastoral  Theology  ;  yet  what 
we  have  to  say  here  will  be  of  a  practical  nature,  mainly 
suited  to  young  preachers,  theological  students,  and  those 
entering  upon  earnest  pastoral  and  evangelistic  work. 
In  a  companion  volume  the  subject  of  "  Homiletics"  has 
been  discussed,  to  which  we  would  respectfully  refer  the 
student  for  a  full  and,  if  we  might  venture  to  say,  scien- 
tific treatment  of  this  theme. 

So  much  has  been  written  upon  preaching  that  it 
seems  as  if  the  time  had  come  for  preachers  to  put  into 
vigorous  execution  the  wise  counsel  from  so  many 
sources,  that  there  may  not  be  a  plethora  of  "  advice," 
and  it  shall  become,  in  Coleridge's  words,  "  the  worst 
kind  of  vice  ;"  for  we  may  theorize  upon  preaching  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  but  if  it  end  there  the  world  will  not  be 
saved. 

The   spiritual   element  in    the   sermon   cannot   be   too 
strongly  emphasized.      Preaching  flows  out   of  praying. 
It  is  the  faith  of  the  heart  put  into  a  practical 
effort    to    do    good.      As    we    believe,  so  we  The  spiritual 
speak.      A   sermon,    therefore,    should   come     element  in 
from  the  heart,  a  believing  and  loving  heart,     preaching, 
more  even  than  from  the  head.     If  it  do  not 
come   from  the  heart,  while  it   is  not    always    equal   in 
ability  to  other  intellectual  performances,  it  lacks  just 
that  element  which   would  give  it   power  as   a  sermon. 
The  most   common   fault  with  preaching  is   that  it  does 


32  2  PASTORAL   THEOLOGY. 

not  touch  the  heart.  The  fault  probably  lies  with  the 
hearer,  since  the  soil  must  be  prepared  for  the  seed  ;  but 
while  often  liking  a  discourse,  even  wondering  at  its  skil- 
ful method  or  beauty  of  illustration,  we  catch  ourselves 
saying  instinctively,  "  That  sermon  would  never  convert 
me,  or  any  one  else."  It  is  not  meant  probably  to  con- 
vert or  go  very  deep.  Its  purpose  is  different  and  much 
more  vague  ;  perhaps  it  is  to  gain  the  approbation  of 
some  man  of  mind  in  the  congregation  ;  or  it  is  an  ex- 
hibition of  one's  power  of  thought  ;  if  it  do  good  it  is  to 
be  done  through  its  intellectual  force  ;  it  is  not  at  all  in 
the  sphere  of  the  spiritual  ;  it  has  not  been  conceived 
from  that  divine  point  of  view  ;  it  is  not  vivified  with  the 
breath  of  a  prayerful  devotion,  with  the  regenerating  in- 
fluence of  the  Holy  Spirit  ;  it  moves  on  a  lower  plane  of 
forces  and  is  impelled  by  a  thoroughly  human  inspira- 
tion. Preachers,  young  and  old,  are  liable  thus  to  err, 
thus  to  lose  their  hold  entirely  upon  the  supernatural 
where  spiritual  or  converting  power  is  generated. 

The   tone  of  our  preaching   should,  under  all   circum- 
stances,  be  hopeful.     A  sermon   may  be   made   so    in- 
tensely exacerbating  and  solemn  that  there 
is   no   chance    left    for  anything    quietly   to 
grow,  for  any  motion  of  timid  but  honest  in- 
quiry, of  any  upspringing  desire,  of  any  new,  tender  life. 
It  may  be  only  the  dry  wind  that  consumes  everything. 
Such  preaching  gives   no   play   to   nature,  to   man's   in- 
stincts, desires,  affections,  and  hopes,  but  galvanizes  him 
into  a  sort  of  unnatural  life,  out  of  which  the  warm  blood 
has  fled.     Young  preachers  in  their  first  zeal  may  do  this. 
They  drive  at  the  conscience  with  terrific   force,  forget- 
ting   that    man    possesses    other    qualities    besides    con- 
science— that   he   is  a  creature   who   laughs   and  weeps, 
who  loves  and  hates,  who   is  pleased  with  humor  and  wit 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    323 

as  well  as  stirred  by  truth  ;  who  requires  praise  as  well  as 
blame,  who  starts  forward  at  the  voice  of  encouragement 
even  more  quickly  than  at  the  voice  of  censure.  Sydney 
Smith  did  as  much  good  by  his  wit  as  by  his  wisdom,  but 
his  wit  was  usually  tempered  and  seasoned  with  wisdom  ; 
it  was  never  mahgnant  and  not  even  sarcastic,  but  welled 
forth  sparkling  and  wholesom.e  from  a  loving  human 
heart.  A  preacher  a  hundredfold  more  earnest  than 
Sydney  Smith  should  speak  with  a  cheery  and  hopeful 
voice  to  the  human  mind  that  cannot  act  at  all  in  a  state 
of  despair.  It  needs  the  sweet  provocative  of  hope  to 
lure  it  into  good  activity.  The  atmosphere  must  be 
genial  for  the  heart  to  open  and  blossom  in.  The  Gospel 
itself  appeals  more  to  hope  than  to  fear,  because  hope  is 
the  spring  of  all  progress  in  man  and  in  the  world,  as 
history  shows,  and  it  is  this  very  noble  and  productive 
quality  which  Christianity  has  infused  into  human  life, 
that  has  brought  about  the  marked  advancement  of 
modern  civilization. 

There  should  be  also  fresh  thought,  the  bloom  and 
fragrancy  of  new  ideas,  in  every  sermon.  We  some- 
times hear  original  sermons,  but  we  also  hear 

sermons  that  are   eloquent,  just   as  we  have 

^  ■*  thought. 

heard  the  same  eloquence  on  the  same 
themes  a  hundred  times.  Young  preachers  ought  not  to 
preach  like  old  preachers — they  should  have  something 
new.  Pulpit  eloquence  of  a  stereotyped  character  may 
be  transmitted  from  age  to  age,  till  it  ceases  to  be 
eloquent,  till  it  becomes  the  echo  of  an  echo.  What  is 
said  is  excellently  said,  but  there  is  a  residuum  of  utter 
weariness  in  the  hearers'  minds  which  paralyzes  all  good 
results.  Putting  men  to  sleep  indeed — putting  their 
minds  to  sleep  !  The  mind  feeds  on  ideas.  That  is  its 
proper   food.      It  never  wearies  with  fresh  thought,   and 


324  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

this  is  the  reason  why  the  preaching  of  the  so-called 
Broad  Church  in  England,  of  such  men  as  Arnold, 
Maurice,  Kingsley,  Frederick  Robertson,  and  Dean 
Stanley,  has,  in  these  recent  times,  aroused  such  an  un- 
wonted interest  in  divine  things  and  given  a  new  impulse 
to  spiritual  thought  and  practical  benevolence  in  quarters 
where  these  had  utterly  died  out,  or  had  given  place  to 
bare  materialism  ;  and  it  would  be  well  for  all  preachers 
to  know  that  as  the  mind  is  made  it  takes  unending 
delight  in  new  ideas,  new  truths,  more  than  in  familiar 
truth,  however  eloquently  presented  ;  then  they  will  be 
apt  to  cast  themselves  more  boldly  on  their  own  thinking 
— not  striving  for  entertaining  novelties,  but  for  fresh  and 
independent  views  of  truth,  v/hich  is  a  proof  of  earnest- 
ness in  the  preacher.  This  individuality  has  singular 
charms,  but  it  cannot  be  possessed  by  one  who  does  not 
think  hard,  who  does  not  exercise  himself  in  severe 
studies,  who  does  not  enrich  his  mind  by  wide  reading. 
Communion  with  great  thinkers  makes  one  think,  deepens 
the  soil  of  the  mind,  so  that  new  ideas  spring  and  grow 
abundantly  to  nourish  also  other  minds.  Thoroughness 
in  the  study  shows  itself  in  power  in  the  pulpit.  An 
audience  is  never  tired  of  preaching  so  long  as  the 
preacher  presents  fresh  thought  out  of  his  own  mind,  in 
a  sincere  and  earnest  way.  The  youngest  preacher,  if 
true  to  himself,  may  in  this  manner  hold  his  audience 
captive. 

The  preacher,  we  would  say  further,  should  put  him- 

-,         ,,        self  in  the  line  of   vital  svmpathy  with  men 
Sympathy  -      ^         •' 

with  the      who  have  intellectual  doubts  to  solve.     Not 

doubts  of     that  he  should  share  these  doubts — he  may 

intellectual   qj.    may  not — but    he    should    help    men    to 

meet  and  overcome  them,   as  he  himself  is 

ever  striving  to   come  through  doubt,  conflict,   tempta- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    325 

tion,  and  darkness,  to  the  clear,  full  light  of  truth.  He 
may  thus  draw  men  along  with  him  instead  of  driving 
them  before  him,  A  wide-awake  and  clear-headed 
preacher,  with  his  heart  full  of  love  to  men,  can  do  a 
great  .deal  toward  removing  obstacles  unnecessarily- 
heaped  about  the  truth — not  only  the  rubbish  of  the  past, 
but  the  rubbish  of  the  present.  The  freethinking  and 
atheistic  mechanics  of  London  who  went  from  week  to 
week  to  hear  Frederick  Denison  Maurice  preach  at  / 
Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  did  not  go  there  to  have  their 
sceptical  notions  confirmed — not  at  all,  but  to  listen  to  a 
messenger  of  God's  kingdom,  who  at  last  took  them  on 
the  side  of  their  intellectual  sympathies  for  bold 
thought,  and  who  did  not  shrink  from  opening  questions 
both  difficult  and  profound,  not  smoothing  them  over 
with  a  dogmatic  assertion  which  satisfied  no  reasonable 
mind.  We  do  not  say  that  Mr.  Maurice  did  satisfy  or 
answer  all  questionings,  or  was  always  wise  in  his  man- 
ner of  doing  so  ;  but  he  was  sufficiently  in  earnest  to  try 
to  do  this,  and  to  be  a  helper  of  others  in  their  extremest 
difficulties,  and  they  knew  it.  The  amazing  activity  of 
mind  on  the  part  of  scientific  thinkers  has  been  met,  as  a 
general  rule,  by  an  intellectual  dormancy  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  which  is  most  hurtful  and  deplorable.  Mr. 
Darwin  has  been  sometimes  used  as  a  bugbear,  has  been 
made  to  say  a  great  deal  that  he  never  did  say  in  opposi- 
tion to  revelation,  and,  by  thus  painting  him  blacker  than 
he  is,  and  by  not  taking  the  pains  carefully  to  show  men 
where  he  may  be  true  and  the  Bible  true  also,  a  great 
deal  of  unnecessary  difficulty  has  been  raised,  which  the 
exercise  of  common-sense  and  clear  thinking  might  have 
prevented.  Mr.  Darwin  himself  said  that  his  system  of 
physical  nature  and  Christ  had  nothing  to  do  with  each 
other  ;   they  did  not  come  in  collision  with  or  opposition 


326  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

to  each  other  ;  and  why  force  them  to  do  so  ?  Popular 
reasoning  on  reh"gious  subjects  will,  at  all  events,  go  on. 
It  cannot  be  stifled.  It  is  strange  that  Protestant  minds 
should  think  it  could  be.  The  people  and  the  clergy  are 
drawing  apart.  The  clergy  may  retain  their  views,  but 
the  people  will  have  theirs.  Less  and  less  do  the  clergy, 
whether  in  the  pulpit  or  in  the  schools,  retain  the  leader- 
ship of  the  popular  mind  on  religious  matters.  This  may 
be  an  evil  or  a  good  sign  of  the  times.  We  think  that 
the  Christian  ministry  may  continue  to  maintain  a 
powerful  and  legitimately  controlling  influence  over  the 
popular  mind  in  matters  of  religious  faith  and  conscience, 
such  as  the  New  Testament  gives  them,  if  they  will  wield 
their  authority  aright  ;  if  they  will  set  forth  the  truth 
simply  and  not  themselves  ;  if  they  will  show  that  they 
are  the  loyal  and  humble  servants  of  their  Master  in  life, 
spirit,  and  doctrine,  and  that  they  sincerely  desire  not  to 
make  a  gain  of  godliness,  but  to  do  good  to  all  men  and 
to  bring  them  to  God,  They  should  not  be  afraid  of 
losing  their  power  by  checking  discussion,  but  rather  by 
throwing  into  it  all  the  light,  energy,  wisdom,  earnest 
faith  and  inspired  thought  that  they  can.  Thus  they  may 
discuss  in  a  reverent  and  loving  spirit  the  deepest  ques- 
tions— the  nature  of  God,  the  work  of  Christ,  the  future 
destiny  of  man — saying  all  they  themselves  have  gained 
of  clear  truth  on  these  subjects,  and  not  being  afraid, 
modestly  and  prudently,  to  express  their  own  difBculties, 
hopes,  and  fears,  but  aiding  others  to  arrive  at  a  clearer 
faith,  and  humbly  waiting  upon  God  for  higher  light  in 
their  ministry.  We  believe  that  all  these  deep  questions 
may  be  discussed  in  the  pulpit  with  perfect  frankness, 
much  more  so  than  is  now  done,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to 
interest  and  not  repel  the  masses  of  thinking  but  nomi- 
nally irreligious  men.     The  timid  vapidity  of  conventional 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    327 

preaching  will  not  satisfy  these.  There  was  really  more 
freedom  of  questioning  and  thought  about  things  divine 
in  the  times  of  primitive  Christianity,  when  truth  was 
not  stratified  into  such  rigid  forms,  than  there  is  now  ; 
and  it  would  be  well  for  the  Church  to  come  back  to  that 
simplicity  of  the  faith  when  the  anchor  cast  within  the 
^  veil  held  firmly  upon  Christ,  though  the  storms  of 
*  philosophy  and  persecution  raged  above.  The  recon- 
ciliation of  faith  with  philosophy  may  still  go  on,  while 
the  divine  elements  of  a  true  faith  in  the  Son  of  God  are 
kept  pure  and  untouched. 

Preaching  should   still    continue    to  be  what    it   was 
originally   intended  to  be,  for  if  it  does  not  it  loses  its 
power.     It  was  instituted   to   build    up  the 
kingdom  of  God  in  the  world   through   the   The  mainte- 
t         ...  ,       ,  r  1     1-    •      1         1  1     nance  of  the 

heralding  or  a  form  of  truth  divmely  adapted    ^j.  _  j    •  _ 

to  produce  radical  moral  effects.  The  pulpit  of  preaching, 
is  an  accepted  basis  of  public  address  and  of 
popular  influence,  and  it  may  be  easily  wrested  from  its 
purpose  or  transformed  into  a  scientific  lecturer's  desk,  a 
philosopher's  stand,  a  literary  teacher's  throne.  We  may 
hear  from  it  addresses  upon  political  economy,  social 
science,  criticisms  of  great  men  and  poets,  travellers' 
descriptions  of  places  and  scenes,  esthetic  and  witty 
discussions,  but  the  original  design  of  the  institution,  as 
exemplified  by  the  apostles,  has  vanished.  Let  us  have 
the  true  thing,  or  give  it  up  entirely.  Let  us  not  turn  it 
into  something  else,  or  perhaps  a  travesty.  We  think 
that  young  preachers,  at  this  time,  have  a  great  respon- 
sibility laid  upon  them.  In  the  first  place,  they  are  a 
power  in  the  Church  and  the  religious  community.  In 
other  professions,  as  of  the  law  and  medicine,  men  have 
to  wait  until  a  few  gray  hairs  appear,  or  a  bald  spot  on 
top  of  the  head,  before  the  public  have  any  confidence  in 


32S  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

their  judgment  and  will  intrust  to  them  business  of  im- 
portance ;  but,  by  a  singular  turn  of  opinion,  young 
ministers  are  all  the  fashion  in  the  churches.  They  are 
called  to  occupy  the  empty  pulpits,  and  pulpits  are  sum- 
marily emptied  for  them  to  occupy.  If  this  be  so,  they 
ought,  with  more  humility  than  pride,  to  recognize  their 
responsibility  to  God  and  the  Church.  The  burden  laid 
upon  them  is  to  maintain  the  true  design  and  power  of 
the  pulpit.  While  not  unnaturally  rigid  or  fanatically 
solemn,  thus  driving  away  free  spirits,  they  are  still  to 
oppose  the  lowering  and  mere  entertaining  idea  of  the 
pulpit.  The  tendency  in  public  speech,  in  private  con- 
versation, in  newspaper  and  book,  now  is,  to  turn  every- 
thing serious  into  a  joke.  Divine  truth  is  not  so  much 
point-blank  rejected  as  laughed  away.  Ministers  join 
in  the  resistless  current.  While  it  is  not  often  tried  in 
the  pulpit,  a  jest  upon  the  solemnest  things  has  in  it  a 
spice  which  most  tickles  the  public  palate.  This,  cer- 
tainly, is  in  bad  taste,  if  nothing  more.  Preachers  have 
to  deal  primarily  with  the  conscience.  There  is  such  a 
fact  as  sin.  Life  is  surrounded  by  impenetrable  mysteries, 
and  is  no  play  to  be  walked  through  with  smirking  face. 
Men  have  great  sorrows 

"  More  fell  than  anguish,  hunger,  or  the  sea." 

The  sanctions  of  the  inspired  Word  are  high  as  heaven 
and  deep  as  hell  and  sharp  as  a  sword,  and  he  who  takes 
off  their  edge  does  it  foolishly.  The  pulpit  means  re- 
demption from  evil,  joy  from  woe,  life  from  death, 
righteous  living  from  wicked  living  that  leads  to  self- 
waste  and  destruction.  "  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  seek  and  to  save  them  that  are  lost" — if  this  be 
not  the  gospel,  what  is  the  gospel  ?  It  is,  at  all  events, 
no  trifle,  and  the  preacher  is  no  jester.     If  he  is,  give  him 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    329 

his  cap  and  bells,  and  bid  him  make  the  people  roar  at 
the  multitudinous  banquet  of  life  ;  appoint  him  the  master 
of  revels  and  the  leader  of  fools,  and  let  him  take  his  place 
among  the  hounds  that  feed  on  the  bones  flung  to  them. 
While  not  a  solemn  and  sanctimonious  man,  let  the  / 
young  preacher  begin  his  work  with  a  high  spiritual 
ideal.  Let  him  not  lose  the  divine  sweetness  of  his  first 
love,  the  glory  of  his  young  hope.  The  old  promises  are 
true,  and  "  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  shall 
shine  as  the  stars  forever." 

This  leads  us  to  some  still   more  direct  and  practical 
thoughts  upon  preaching. 

The  mind   of  the  preacher  should   be  filled  with  the 

earnest  purpose  to  rescue  men  from  the  grasp  of  sin  and 

its    utmost    evil.     While    suffused  with  the 

devotional  spirit,  while  an  integral  part  of  the         ^  purpose 
,  ,.  ,  .  r      1  1  •  of  preaching 

public  worship  of   the  sanctuary,  preaching     ^^  earnest 

is  not  a  formal  address  to  people  on  Sundays,  one. 

warmed  up  with  religious  feeling  and  highly 
proper  for  those  who  are  ofificially  ordained  ministers 
and  pastors,  whether  it  may  or  may  not  do  good  ;  but  it 
is,  on  the  contrary,  something  meant  to  be  and  to  have  a 
controlling  power  over  men.  It  is  meant  to  effect  some- 
thing. It  is  meant  to  reach  men's  real  disposition  and 
nature,  beyond  the  intellect  even,  where  are  the  springs 
of  moral  choice  and  spiritual  affection.  It  is  meant  to 
arouse  in  them  the  feeling  of  divine  obligation,  the  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  the  need  of  Christ  as  a  spiritual 
Deliverer,  the  believing  acceptance  of  him  as  "  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life,"  the  implantation  of  a  new  and 
eternal  life.  Preaching  is  a  force  truly  influencing  men's 
destiny.  As  a  fountain  rises  no  higher  than  its  source, 
preaching  will  not  be  anything  unless  it  have  a  divine 
spring  in  the  faith   and  purpose  of  the  preacher  who  re- 


SS°  FA  STOICAL    THEOLOGY. 

ceives  his  message  from  God,  and  gives  it  forth  in  the 
strength  of  God's  inspiring  Spirit  to  recover  men  into  his 
kingdom.  Therefore  a  young  man  should  not  begin  to 
preach  nor  attempt  to  write  sermons  without  having  a 
true  sense  of  responsibihty  in  what  he  is  doing,  without 
feeh'ng  the  absolute  need  of  God's  special  aid,  and  with- 
out a  purpose  to  save  men  from  the,  uttermost  power  of 
evil  and  lead  them  into  a  holy  life  in  Christ. 

This  opens  the  opportunity  to  discuss  the  point  of 
preaching  the  whole  counsel  of  God  in  respect  of  the  doc- 
trine of  the  punishment  of  sin  after  death.  This  grave 
question  cannot  be  avoided.  It  has  come  into  special 
prominence  in  these  times,  and  will  always  be  a  most  deep 
and  difficult  question  in  preaching.  Our  views  on  the 
subject,  like  all  in  this  book,  are  only  suggestive  ;  they 
are  worth  what  they  are  worth,  but  they  are  inspired  by 
a  strong  desire  to  help  young  men  in  their  work.  We 
will  preface  what  we  have  to  say  with  some  very  plain 
words  from  a  recent  English  writer  : 

"  I  take,  first  of  all,  as  profoundly  repugnant  to  the 
moral  convictions  of  the  democracy,  the  doctrine  of  eter- 
nal punishment  as  it  is  commonly  held  and  taught.  I 
here  record  my  emphatic  testimony  to  the  fact  that  this 
doctrine  is  hated,  and  at  the  same  time  feared,  by  the 
'  common  people,'  to  an  extent  of  which  we  have  little 
conception.  The  good-natured  and  amiable  clergyman 
who  preaches  it  from  his  pulpit,  and  tricks  it  out  with 
such  rhetoric  as  his  resources  command,  little  knows 
what  harm  he  may  be  doing  to  some  excitable  and  at- 
tentive listener.  The  preacher  himself  holds  it  with 
drawbacks  and  difficulties.  He  knows  that  he  must  take 
into  account  the  case  of  those  who  have  been  left  in  prac- 
tical heathenism,  of  men  who,  it  may  be,  live  in  the 
practice   of  the  purest  morality  without   a   belief   in   the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    331 

Christian  revelation.  But  his  words  fall  in  all  their  naked 
simplicity  upon  the  ears  of  men  who  are  easily  moved  by 
the  pleadings  of  love,  but  all  whose  notions  of  manliness 
and  dignity  revolt  at  the  thought  of  being  coerced  by 
fear.  Or  more  probably  they  fall  upon  the  ears  of  some 
one  whom  vice  has  converted  into  a  coward.  He  goes 
out  a  changed  man,  full  of  the  terrors  of  the  unknown 
world.  He  believes  himself  to  be  in  danger  of  hell-fire, 
and  as  it  is  a  most  awful  reality  to  him,  he  must  needs 
warn  his  fellow-workmen,  with  coarse  importunity  per- 
haps, of  their  common  danger,  and  preach  to  them  the 
gospel  of  an  almost  universal  damnation.  These  know 
their  comrade  but  too  well,  understand  at  once  the 
motive,  the  enfeebled  morality,  the  immorality  of  the 
whole  ;  and  they  know  that  nine  times  out  of  ten  he  be- 
comes within  six  months  as  much  a  reprobate  as  ever. 
No  wonder  they  hate  the  religion  of  which  they  only 
see  the  parody  ;  and  yet  they  fear  while  they  hate,  be- 
cause they  are  conscious  that  they  are  living  without  God 
in  the  world.  When  persons  talk  of  the  use  of  fear  as  an 
instrument  of  conviction,  they  apparently  forget  that  in 
the  far  more  numerous  cases  where  fear  does  not  convince, 
it  acts  as  one  of  the  strongest  repelling  forces  that  exist 
in  human  nature,  and  passes  invariably  into  an  intensity 
of  hatred  and  aversion.  Certainly  the  defence  of  the 
doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  as  a  useful  '  economy  '  is 
the  worst  possible  ground  to  take  :  the  individual  is  con- 
verted to  a  questionable  religion,  the  class  is  alienated 
from  the  highest  and  purest  truths.  I  know  from  experi- 
ence that  the  instinctive  dread  of  this  doctrine  shuts  the 
heart  of  many  a  dying  and  conscience-stricken  wretch 
against  the  gospel  of  love.  Men  must  be  approached, 
not  with  a  definite  set  of  theological  doctrines  upon  such  a 
vast   and  mysterious  subject,  but   with  (it   is  difificult  to 


332  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

find  a  suitable  word)  an  idea,  in  which  hope  predominates 
and  fear  mingles,  the  fear  of  sinfulness  working  out  its  own 
punishment  in  future  ages. "  There  is  food  for  thought  in 
these  unpalatable  words.  The  gospel  of  love  and  of  hope 
is  sometimes  preached  as  if  it  were  the  gospel  of  fear  ; 
and  "this  is  preaching  the  law,"  it  is  said,  "which  is 
fear."  We  should  most  assuredly  preach  the  law,  but 
not  by  itself  alone,  and  rather  as  a  preparation  for  the 
gospel.  We  should  preach  it  as  Christ  teaches  us  to 
preach  it,  not  "  as  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,"  but 
as  "  I  say  unto  you."  He  who  does  this  is  honored  of 
Christ.  "  Whosoever  shall  do  and  teach  them,  the  same 
shall  be  called  great  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  We 
should  preach  the  law  in  the  brighter  and  larger  light  of 
the  New  Testament,  intelligently,  as  a  means  to  a  higher 
end,  and  not  exclusively  as  a  system  of  condemnation,  of 
terror,  of  warning  even,  but  in  its  true  relations  to  the 
mind  and  to  Christ's  redemptive  work  in  and  for  the 
mind  ;  in  order  to  show  men  how  the  law  may  be  dis- 
obeyed, and  how  sin  may  arise,  or  what  sin  is,  thus  mak- 
ing the  law  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  to  Christ.  If  it  do 
not  lead  to  Christ  and  a  better  righteousness  in  him,  the 
preaching  of  the  law  fails. 

The  righteousness  of  Christians  must  exceed  the 
righteousness  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  must  have  in 
it  a  living  element  of  divine  love  and  obedience  which  the 
law  could  never  impart.  Here,  then,  is  the  place  of  the 
law  under  the  gospel,  that  by  it  men  may  see  what  their 
duty  is,  and  how  far  they  have  departed  from  the  perfect 
standard,  and  from  that  sense  of  innate  righteousness, 
that  eternal  law  of  right  written  on  the  conscience. 
Thus  the  law  brings  the  knowledge  of  sin.  Thus  appeal- 
ing to  men's  own  reason,  the  sanctions  of  the  law  have 
their  effect.     In  this  way  the  law  condemns  them  when 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    ^32, 

they  are  self-condemned  ;  and  in  this  way  we  may  hope 
to  convict  of  sin  and  to  awaken  that  repentance  which 
springs  from  a  clear  view  of  the  righteousness  of  the  law. 
Otherwise  you  may  declare  men  sinners  and  they  will  sin 
on.  Otherwise  you  may  appeal  to  the  fears  and  passions 
of  men,  and  tell  them  of  eternal  punishment  in  vain. 
The  law  should  be  preached  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  its 
demand  upon  rational  creatures  who  are  made  by  the 
constitution  of  their  beings  subjects  of  moral  govern- 
ment. Its  penalties  must  appeal  to  the  conscience,  and 
not  be  preached  with  irrational  dogmatism,  with  fiery 
assertiveness,  nor  so  disproportionately  and  predomi- 
nantly, as  to  lead  men  to  fear  merely,  or  to  despair,  or  to 
what  is  worse,  to  indifference.  The  law  -should  be 
preached  in  the  light  of  the  gospel,  and  never  separated 
from  the  sweet  light  of  the  gospel,  and  from  those  inspir- 
ing and  hopeful  relations  into  which  Christ  has  introduced 
the  law.  "  For  we  are  saved  by  hope."  It  is  right  to 
appeal  to  fear,  for  in  the  Word  of  God  the  deep  and  dis- 
tant thunder  of  threatening  is  heard  ;  but  it  should  be  the 
fear  of  a  reasonable  being,  the  subject  of  moral  law.  The 
appeal  must  have  its  ground  and  object  in  the  intelligence 
that  thinks,  chooses,  and  loves,  and  that  cannot  be 
treated  as  the  brute,  by  lash  and  terror  alone.  The  truth 
is,  as  Frederick  W.  Robertson  said  :  "  We  know  not  yet 
the  gospel's  power  ;  for  who  trusts  as  Jesus  did,  all  to 
that  ?  Who  ventures,  as  he  did,  upon  the  powers  of 
love,  in  sanguine  hopefulness  of  the  most  irreclaimable  ?" 
Preaching  cannot  deal  wholly  with  narrow  school-sys- 
tems of  theology,  with  human  masters,  methods,  and 
creeds,  but  rather  with  those  great  principles  that  under- 
lie both  the  moral  constitution  of  man  and  the  founda- 
tions of  divine  revelation.  It  is  beginning  to  be  dis- 
covered that  the  great  trend  of  the  gospel  is  ethical  rather 


334  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

than  theological,  and  that  its  main  object  is  the  forma- 
tion of  character.  Preaching  must  deal  with  the  elemen- 
tal forces  of  character,  where  there  is  power  to  effect 
change  ;  where  supernatural  power,  the  power  of  gracious 
and  superabounding  love  comes  in,  and  man  is  perfected 
in  God.  The  gospel  is  not  the  mere  "  story  "  of  divine 
love,  but  it  is  a  present  and  potent  fact  ;  it  is  a  divine 
method  of  moral  restoration  ;  it  is  the  eternal  manifesta- 
tion of  the  love  of  God  to  his  creatures,  even  his  sinful 
creatures  ;  and  if  this  gospel  of  the  love  of  God  were 
preached  at  this  day  with  the  spiritual  intuition  with 
which  the  apostle  Paul  preached  it,  the  world  would  see 
the  same  effects,  for  no  power  is  so  strong  as  love,  the 
love  of  God  in  Christ,  to  reform  immoral  and  corrupt 
humanity.  A  primitive  faith  in  the  gospel — the  divine 
become  human  in  its  love,  the  impersonal  and  abstract 
become  personal — would  revive  a  power  to  whose  energy 
the  Roman  Empire  and  three  pagan  continents  yielded. 

Anchored,  then,  in  the  doctrine  that  "  God  is  love,"  the 
preacher  can  reason  with  safety  upon  the  profoundest 
theological  questions.  When,  for  example,  we  look  upon 
religion,  not  as  a  human  theory,  depending  upon  man's 
intellect  to  settle,  but  as  the  sense  and  the  believing  re- 
ception of  the  divine  ;  as  the  genuine  reception  of  the 
righteousness  of  God  ;  as  the  recognition  both  by  the 
reason  and  the  heart  of  a  higher  righteousness  and  love 
than  our  own,  and  that  this  divine  love  alone  covers, 
purifies,  and  saves  us  ;  then  we  can,  sheltered  in  this  rift 
of  the  rock  of  divine  love,  contemplate  the  greatest 
mysteries  of  life,  and  the  deepest  and  most  tremendous 
problems  of  theology,  without  being  moved  from  our 
Christian  faith  ;  and  in  this  way  and  from  this  standpoint 
alone  can  the  preacher  discuss  the  dark  problem  of  the 
future  state  of  the  wicked.      Even  the  Church  cannot  call 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    335 

itself  infallible.  The  human  preacher,  if  he  be  the  sin- 
cere servant  of  Christ,  must  be  allowed  more  room — more 
room  to  breathe  than  he  has  been  allowed  to  have  before, 
on  such  vast  and  mysterious  questions.  Liberty  of 
thought  must  be  left  to  truly  evangelic  men,  otherwise 
there  caii  be  no  progress  in  theology,  otherwise  faith, 
being  solely  prescriptive  and  traditional,  will  no  longer  be 
a  personal,  real,  and  morally  operative  faith.  This  ques- 
tion belongs  to  the  nature  of  divine  things.  It  belongs 
to  the  heights  and  depths  of  God's  inscrutable  nature. 

But  this  is  certain,  that  he  who  loves  God  has  in  him 
eternal  life  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  he  who  has  not  the  love 
of  God,  is  dead  while  he  lives,  and  in  the  eternal  aeons  to 
come  it  would  be  exactly  the  same.  Heaven  and  hell  are 
but  names  of  eternal  states  of  the  soul  in  its  relation  to 
the  love  of  God.  Could  the  child  of  God  ever  wish  any 
higher  heaven  than  to  love  God  perfectly,  for  therein  is 
comprehended  all  righteousness  ;  and  could  he  ever  fear 
any  deeper  hell  than  really  (in  spite  of  his  creeds  and 
confessions)  not  to  love  God  ? 

While  we  cannot  but  sympathize  very  strongly  with 
much  that  has  been  said  against  the  coarse  representa- 
tions sometimes  made  from  the  pulpit  of  the  endless 
torments  of  the  wicked,  we  agree  substantially  with  the 
modest  and  reverential  confession  of  Frederick  Denison 
Maurice  when  he  says  :  "I  ask  no  one  to  pronounce,  for 
I  dare  not  pronounce  myself,  what  are  the  possibilities 
of  resistance  in  a  human  will  to  the  loving  will  of  God. 
There  are  times  when  they  seem  to  me — thinking  of 
myself  more  than  others — almost  infinite.  I  am  obliged 
to  believe  in  an  abyss  of  love  which  is  deeper  than  the 
abyss  of  death.  I  dare  not  lose  faith  in  that  love.  I 
sink  into  death,  eternal  death,  if  I  do.  I  must  feel  that 
this  love  is  compassing  the   universe.     More  about  it  I 


S3^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

cannot  know.  But  God  knows.  I  leave  myself  and  all 
to  him."  If  he,  or  any  one,  held  to  the  love  of  God, 
then  he  could  tread  firmly  through  those  unfathomable 
abysses.  If  "  God  is  love" — if  that  truth  stands  sure — ■ 
then  we  can  trust  calmly  in  respect  to  "  the  righteous 
judgment  of  God."  We  can  leave  it  to  him  in  implicit 
faith.  We  are  not  compelled  to  rush  to  the  Universalist 
doctrine,  as  Maurice  distinctly  avowed  that  he  was  not  ; 
nor  are  we  forced  to  embrace  the  poor  palliative  of  the 
annihilationist  view  ;  nor  need  we  even  avow  as  a  matter 
of  distinct  belief  the  nobler  and  more  philosophic  theory 
of  the  final  restorationist,  to  which  the  platonic  mind  of 
Neander  inclined — if,  indeed,  none  of  these  are  taught  us 
in  the  Scriptures  ;  but,  if  "  God  is  love,"  then  we  may 
endure  the  present  darkness  and  suspense.  If  "  God  is 
love,"  then  if  he  should  even  choose  to  grant  in  his  rev- 
elation to  us  here  not  one  ray  of  hope  to  the  sinner 
dying  in  hard  impenitency  and  utter  selfishness,  hatred, 
and  impurity  of  heart  ;  if  the  veil  is  shut  on  the  wicked 
soul's  future  condition  with  absolute  closeness — still  we 
can  be  quiet  and  trustful.  If  only  "  God  is  love,"  the 
great  problem  of  eternal  life  will  be  worked  out  by  a  law 
which  cannot  fail  in  the  exactest  particular,  not  only  to 
render  justice,  but  the  utmost  possible  good,  to  every 
moral  being  susceptible  of  good.  We  can  also  interpret 
one  Scripture  by  another.  We  can  thereby  through  the 
analogy  of  Scripture  arrive  at  truer  modes  of  interpreta- 
tion ;  and  it  may  be  that  light  will  spring  forth  from  the 
Word  of  God  itself  that  shall  cause  the  veil  to  be  lifted 
somewhat  from  this  awful  problem,  even  in  this  world. 
But  we  can  hardly  hope  that.  The  Bible  seems  to  be  a 
book  that  does  not  have  much  to  say  about  the  future  life 
except  to  reveal  it.  It  says  what  a  man  sows  that  shall 
he  also  reap,  and  leaves  it  there,  with  a  sublime  refusal  to 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    337 

enter  into  further  explanation.  It  pins  us  down  to  this 
life — to  our  service,  love,  and  obedience  here.  If  we 
love  God  here  it  will  be  well  with  us  hereafter.  The 
conclusion  of  the  whole  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  First 
Corinthians,  that  wonderful  and  sublime  chapter  concern- 
ing resurrection  and  immortal  life,  is  this  :  "  Wherefore, 
my  beloved  brethren,  be  }^e  steadfast,  unmovable  ;  always 
abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  forasmuch  as  ye  know 
that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

We  think  that  any  man  or  preacher  is  at  liberty,  as  a 
free  thinking  man,  humbly  to  hope  in  regard  to  the  un- 
known future  that  it  will  be  better  than  he  sometimes 
fears,  and  that  the  very  principle  of  evil  may  be  finally 
eliminated  from  God's  universe,  and  that  all  things  may 
be  harmonized  by  him  who  is  the  manifestation,  or  the 
active  power  of  the  love  of  God — even  the  Son  of  God, 
the  Reconciler — and  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  permit 
others  also  to  have  their  hopes,  their  theories,  and  their 
thoughts,  concerning  these  inscrutable  and  divine  myste- 
ries ;  but  the  preacher  of  the  gospel  who  is  flippant  in  his 
treatment  of  this  profound  question  ;  who  makes  light  of 
and  denies  the  infinitely  destructive  character  of  sin  as  set 
forth  in  the  Scriptures  ;  who  treats  the  Word  of  God  and 
its  sanctions  as  a  little  thing,  or  says  passionately  that 
such  and  such  things  must  be  so  whether  the  Scriptures 
say  so  or  not  ;  who  preaches  in  a  spirit  of  unbelief  views 
opposed  to  the  letter  of  Scripture  ;  who  leaves  open  a 
loophole  to  the  souls  of  his  hearers  to  defer  their  repent- 
ance until  after  death,  in  a  vague  hope  of  some  continued 
life  of  better  prospects  to  come  ;  who  is  not  willing  to 
receive  the  words  of  Christ  and  to  preach  them  with 
childlike  simplicity  and  sincerity — that  man,  we  think, 
has  departed  from  the  humility  of  Christian  faith  ;  he  has 
set    up    his    own    judgments    against    God's    Word,    he 


338  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

measures  divine  things  by  human  standards,  he  dogma- 
tizes where  he  should  trust  and  adore,  he  has  lost  the 
vocation  of  the  Christian  preacher. 

Perhaps  we  have  sufficiently  indicated  our  general  view 
of  the  tone  and  spirit,  if  not  the  way  and  method,  of 
preaching  upon  this  most  difficult  and  tremendous  doc- 
trine of  the  future  of  the  wicked — not  of  hiding  its  weighty 
importance  when  rightly  set  forth,  not  of  trifling  with  or 
ignoring  it,  not  of  saying  one  thing  and  believing 
another,  not  of  the  preacher's  repressing  honest  difficul- 
ties in  regard  to  doctrine,  nor  keeping  from  his  people 
any  new  light  that  has  been  shed  upon  his  own  mind 
from  the  study  of  God's  Word,  but  preaching  this  mys- 
terious and  awful  doctrine  in  great  humility,  in  careful- 
ness of  statement,  in  a  simple,  undogmatizing,  scriptural, 
and  loving  spirit,  and  while  warning  faithfully  of  peril, 
yet  lifting  up  the  bright  light  of  the  gospel's  immortal 
hope  for  man.  "  God  is  love  ;  and  he  that  dwelleth  in 
love  dwelleth  in  God,  and  God  in  him.  Herein  is  our 
love  made  perfect,  that  we  may  have  boldness  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  because  as  he  is  so  are  we  in  this  world. 
There  is  no  fear  in  love  ;  but  perfect  love  casteth  out 
fear  ;  because  fear  hath  torment.  He  that  feareth  is  not 
made  perfect  in  love." 

It  is  not  enough   for  the  preacher  to  have  this  general 

purpose  to  do  good   and  to   save  men's  souls,  but  every 

sermon  should  itself  have  some  definite  ob- 

Definite  ob-    ject,  should    be  a   shaft    aimed    at    a   mark, 

ject  in  every    should  be    intended  to  achieve  some     end. 

sermon.        ^  powerful    American    preacher    said     that 

he    strove    always    "  to  get    a   verdict   from 

his  audience     before    he   left  them."     Let    a    man    ask 

himself,    "  What    do  I    mean    to  do   with  this   sermon, 

what    do     I  desire   to     accomplish   by    it,    what    is    the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    339 

particular  end  I  have  in  view  in  making  it  ?  Do  I  wish 
through  its  means  to  convict  that  man's  heart  of  its  deep- 
rooted  selfishness,  and  bring  down  his  pride  so  that  he 
may  have  some  chance  to  be  saved  by  divine  grace  ;  or  do 
I  mean  to- arouse  that  sleeping  believer  and  revive  the 
spiritual  life  of  a  dead  church  ;  or  do  I  purpose  to  start  a 
new  thrill  of  desire  for  higher  things  in  a  paganized  and 
sensualized  community  ;  or  do  I  mean  to  build  up  the 
community  in  a  nobler  culture — in  gentleness,  honor, 
honesty,  temperance,  pureness,  benevolence,  and  sweet 
Christian  charity  ; — or  do  I  intend  to  lead  the  humble  child 
of  God  into  still  higher,  more  peaceful,  and  expansive 
regions  of  divine  truth,  and  joy,  and  holy  life  ;  or  do  I 
rather  desire  to  assuage  the  sorrows  of  a  bereaved  spirit 
crushed  out  of  life  by  its  many  woes — what  is  my  specific 
aim,  and  how  do  I  intend  to  effect  it  ?  We  have  practised 
with  the  rifle  enough  perhaps  to  know  that  in  order  to 
hit  a  distant  mark  it  is  not  enough  to  hold  the  piece 
straight,  but  there  must  be  also  an  effort  of  will — the  mind 
must  grasp  the  mark.  It  is  a  strenuous  mental  act,  the 
grip  of  the  will  hold  of  the  object.  And  so  in  preaching, 
the  effort  of  the  mind  must  be  intensely  bent  upon  the 
attainment  of  the  special  end  in  view,  and  the  sermon  is 
simply  a  means  to  that  end,  and  not  itself  an  end.  Let 
the  idea  be  abandoned  that  the  sermon  itself  is  of  any 
particular  importance,  but  let  the  mind  be  thrown  over 
the  sermon,  so  to  speak,  into  the  end  you  have  in  view  in 
preaching  the  sermon.  In  this  way  sermons  will  not  be 
composed  vaguely  ;  they  will  not  be  mere  religious  medi- 
tations upon  truth,  certainly  not  mere  moral  essays  or 
literary  compositions,  but  well-deliberated  means  fitted 
to  accomplish  some  specific  object. 

It  is  a  good  thing  for  a  young  preacher  to  begin  to 
write    from   particular    texts  instead     of     writing    from 


34°  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

general  topics,  so  that  thus  he  shall  become  a  true  and 
close  interpreter  of  the  Word  to  men.      This 

erpre  a-    j^    ^j^^    hQ<s\.    plan     to     insure    a    permanent, 
tion  of  the  .     ,  ,    /    .   ,    ,        .    .  ^,  . 

varied,  and  fruitful  ministry.      This  is  truly 

honoring  the  Word  of  God,  of  which  minis- 
ters and  pastors  are  servants. 

Having  been  led  to  select  a  text  in  a  legitimate  way — 
we  say  not  how,  but  ordinarily  through  the  systematic 
study  of  the  Scriptures  in  connection  with  the  field  of 
work  where  God  has  placed  a  man — then  the  next  thing 
is  to  study  the  text  carefully  in  the  original  Hebrew  or 
Greek,  and  by  a  faithful  exegesis  both  of  the  words  and 
of  the  thought  to  come  at  the  true  meaning  of  the  pas- 
sage, of  the  portion  of  the  bread  of  life  with  which  the 
people  are  to  be  fed.  Here  one  is  to  find  the  subject- 
matter  of  his  sermon.  Thus  to  come  at  the  genuine 
teaching  of  the  Word  of  God  is  a  great  responsibility. 
The  fact  that  the  sermon  shall  be  effective  spiritually 
depends  much,  if  not  altogether,  upon  this. 

Having  thus  to  the  best  of  one's  scholarship  and  ability 
drawn  out  the  true  contents  of  the  text,  then  .the  next 
question  is.  How  shall  this  divine  truth  be  made  known  to 
men  so  that  they  shall  give  heed  to  it  to  their  eternal 
good  ?  This  teaching  of  the  old  Word  is  to  be  made  a 
present  lesson,  to  be  brought  into  living  forms  of  human 
discourse,  to  be  offered  in  an  interesting  shape  to  minds  ; 
and  here,  with  the  constant  help  of  God's  spirit,  human 
art,    skill,   method,    and     thought     are    lawfully     to    be 

employed. 
Introduction         j^^    ^    general    rule,    the    opening   part    of 
or  beginning  ,        111        ,1  1         ,•  r    .1 

a  sermon  should  be  the   explanation   01   the 
of  the  ^ 

sermon.        text,  the   circumstances   under  which  it  was 

v/ritten,  the'  mind  of  the  writer,  and  in  fine 

all  which   serves   to   elucidate  and  explain   the   passage. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.  341 

Let  the  scene  be  imagined  or  reproduced  in  a  fresh, 
graphic  manner— not  only  the  outward  scene,  but  the 
moral  and  spiritual  milieu  (as  Taine  says  of  a  work  of  art) 
of  the  original  utterance  ;  but  the  introduction  of  a  dis- 
course upon  divine  truth  should  not  be  ambitious  or 
wearisomely  long,  and  the  preacher  should  only  aim  at 
clearing  the  way  for  the  subject  itself  and  at  awakening 
an  interest  in  it — he  should  not  be  long  in  getting  at  the 
real  discussion. 

The  subject  or  proposition  of  a  sermon  should  be 
stated  in  clear  and  unqualified  terms,  so  that  all  may 
know  what  the  preacher  is  speaking  of,  what 

is  the  truth  to  be  enforced.     This,  at  least,  , 

stated. 

for  the  young  sermonizer,  is  the  most  sen- 
sible way  by  which  attention   may  be  concentrated  and 
men's  minds  drawn  to  the  truth,  thus  to  state  quite  early 
in  the  plainest  words  the  true  theme  of  the  discourse. 

The  subject-matter  thus  announced  may,  nay,  should 
be  developed  in  some  orderly  method  or  plan,  some 
vigorous  though  not  stereotyped  form,  so  that  the  most 
illiterate  man  of  the  congregation,  if  he  have 

a  sound  understanding-    can    comprehend  the 

^'  ^  .  opment. 

run  and  flow  of  the  argument.      If  one  wishes 

to  leave  a  permanent  impression  he  should  have  method. 

A  sermon  must  have  points  if  it  would  instruct.      Thought 

itself  is  the  master.      Having  thought  the  matter  through 

and  through,  let  the  preacher  follow  simply  the  plan  of 

his  thought,  and  the  free  filling   out   of  this  plan  is  the 

sermon.      One  need   not   rigidly  stick  to  a  plan,  for  it  is 

useful  only  in  guiding  and   shaping    the  discussion  and 

preventing  the  mind  from  wandering.     The  plan  is  not 

the  vital  thing,  and  should  exercise  no  tyranny  over  the 

thought,  for  it  merely  marks  out  the  way.     But  here  the 

preacher   may,   if  he  please,   leave  his    logic  and    leave 


342  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Scripture  too,  and  strike  out  freely  ;  he  may  view  the 
truth  in  its  relations  to  other  truths  ;  he  may  fearlessly 
reason  and  expatiate  ;  by  looking  into  his  own  mind  and 
heart  he  will  speak  best  and  most  directly  to  other  hearts  ; 
and  let  him,  if  possible,  thus  come  at  first  hand  to  a 
development  of  divine  truth  and  it  will  become  a  reality 
also  to  others.  Have  I  committed  sin  and  repented  ? 
Have  I  been  tempted  ?  Have  I  felt  the  power  of  divine 
grace  and  the  sweetness  of  divine  love  ?  A  man  may 
draw  from  these  founts  of  his  own  experience  in  human 
and  divine  things,  and  no  man  then  will  despise  his  youth 
or  think  him  a  novice,  but  men  will  only  think  of  the 
truth  that  he  utters. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  one  to  fall  into  an  iron-cast 
method  of  making  sermons,  for  every  subject  really 
makes  its  own  method,  so  that  a  sermon  should  be  dy- 
namical rather  than  mechanical.  However  much  of  argu- 
ment there  may  be — and  almost  every  sermon  should  con- 
tain a  body  of  manly  reasoning — let  not  the  discourse  take 
a  purely  argumentative  form,  appealing  exclusively  to  the 
logical  understanding,  but  in  its  free  development  let  it 
also  have  unction,  appealing  to  the  moral  and  spiritual 
nature,  to  the  sensibilities,  affections,  and  desires,  through 
motives  and  by  illustrations  that  touch  the  springs  of 
character.  In  the  sermon  of  a  young  preacher  above  all 
there  should  be  much  illustration.  This  makes  preaching 
interesting  to  most  people.  If  bare  and  sapless,  if  there 
be  no  living  leaf,  or  bud,  or  fruit  of  illustration,  of  obser- 
vation drawn  from  real  life,  the  sermon  will  be  a  dry 
branch  fit  to  be  burned.  Illustrations  should  not  be  the 
mere  ornaments  of  rhetoric,  but  living  analogies  that  help 
the  thought,  and  attract,  relieve,  and  teach  the  mind. 
They  themselves  become  means  of  persuasion  and  in- 
struments  of  awakening-  thought  and  feeling.     So    our 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    343 

Saviour  preached  to  the  common  people,  who  heard  him 

gladly. 

There  are  but  few  sermons  which  can  afford  to  leave 

out  of  them,  somewhere,  a  practical  application   of  the 

theme  to  the  audience,  though  some  sermons 

Pr3,ctic3.1 
by  their  living  method  and  earnestness  make        Hcation 

their  own  application.      But  in  the  conclusion 

of  a  sermon,  if  nowhere  else,  the  whole  discussion  should 

be  brought   to   a   head,    and   brought   to   bear   upon   the 

heart    and    conscience    of    the    hearer.     It    should    be 

weighty,  even  if  tender  and   affectionate.     There  should 

be  no   getting  away  of   the   most  slippery  mind   from   its 

grasp.      It   should    leave   a   lodgment   of   divine  truth — a 

seed  of  eternal  life — in  the   heart.     It  is  a  fine  thing  to 

preach,  but   to  preach   to  no   true   purpose   is   a  terrible 

thing  ;  for  every  idle   word   in    this   high   service  of  the 

Most  High  the  preacher  himself  must  give  an   account. 

We  may  theorize  upon  preaching  to   our  heart's  content, 

and  make  the   most   philosophical   observations  about  it, 

but  in  a  true  sermon  the  preacher  should  speak  the  living 

Word  so  that  men  shall  hear  and  live  ;  and  if  he  can  learn 

to  speak  this  without  a  sermon  to  read  from,  delivering 

the   message  of   God  warm  from  his  mind  and  heart,  he 

will  have    infinitely   greater  power  with  the  people  to  do 

them  good,  than  he  otherwise  could  have.      The  writer 

has    carefully  studied  congregations    in  the    Old   World 

and   the    New,  at    the    East   and  the  West,  and  he  has 

almost     invariably     found    that    where    a    preacher    has 

first    studied    his    sermon  faithfully  and   put    substantial 

thought   into   it,    and  then   stood   up  without   a  written 

note  before  him,  and  spoke  directly  to  the  people,  giving 

his  mind   free  play,   he   is  the   one   who  has  the   largest 

audience,   he  is  the  one  who  makes  his  mark,  he  is  the 

one  who  moulds  the  people  with  plastic  hand  and  turns 


344  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

them  with  ease  and  power  into  the  ways  of  righteousness 
and  peace.  Men  throng  to  him  as  to  a  banquet.  He  is 
the  people's  preacher.  The  other  churches  are  respect- 
able but  cold  ;  their  galleries  are  very  often  thin,  and  the 
spirit  of  life  and  of  power  does  not  seem  to  be  in  them. 

Sec.  19.    Condiicting  a  Prayer- Meeting. 

As  a  Christian  body,  depending  upon  common  aid, 
looking  for  common  blessings,  working  for  a  common 
object,  bound  by  common  hopes,  the  Church  of  Christ 
feel  an  instinctive  drawing  together  in  the  exercise  and 
expression  of  their  devotional  desires.  To  worship  to- 
gether once  a  week  in  the  sanctuary  is  not  enough. 
Among  many  Christian  denominations  disciples  are  con- 
strained to  meet  often  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  relying  on 
his  clear  promise. 

The  prayer-meeting  is  important^  because  it  is  one  of 
the  chief  means  of  maintaining  the  Church's  life  ;  and  the 
meeting  is  dif^cult  to  sustain,  because  the  spirit  of  prayer 
is  the  expression  of  the  spiritual  life  of  the  Church,  and 
because  certain  reasons  beyond  the  prayer-meeting  itself 
— beyond  the  power  of  the  pastor — are  constantly  at  work 
to  deaden  the  faith  of  the  Church. 

Yet  much  may  be  done  to  render  the  prayer-meeting 
attractive  and  ef^cient  for  good. 

In  the  first  place,  the  pastor  should  indoctrinate  his 
people,  or  they  themselves  should  be  thoroughly  estab- 
lished, in  three  fundamental  truths. 

I.   In  a  perfect  faith  in  the  power,  duty,  and  privilege 

of  prayer.      Prayer  is  both  the  natural  and 

Faith  in  .    ,      ,  r  •   •-       1    rr  -t     •       „ 

apponited    means    of    spiritual   lite  ;     it    is    a 
prayer.  ^  ^  . 

real  communion  with  the  source  of   all  spir- 
itual Hfe  ;  it  is  the  necessary  demand  whose  supply  is  in 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    345 

God  ;  and  it  brings  the  human  heart  into  a  condition  to 
be  blessed  ;  as  says  Jeremy  Taylor,  the  spirit  "  ascends 
and  dwells  with  God,  until  it  returns  laden  with  the  dew 
and  blessing  of  heaven  ;"  and  it  follows  that  a  Christian, 
or  a  Christian  church,  that  neglects  this  means  of  inter- 
course with  God,  cannot  expect  to  live  or  have  power. 
There  should  be  no  lingering  unbelief  here.  The  power 
of  prayer  may  be  seen  in  this,  that,  as  we  cannot  doubt, 
something  besides  the  mere  mechanical  regulation  of  the 
material  world  has  entered  into  the  purpose  of  the 
Creator,  and  that  the  physical  is  subordinated  to  the 
spiritual.  God  is,  above  all,  a  moral  and  spiritual  ruler. 
He  is  the  source  of  law  and  of  right.  He  must  be  ever 
on  the  side  of  goodness,  and  of  religious  truth  and  life  ; 
and  if  a  man  or  a  church  lives  in  the  power  of  this  truth,' 
with  perfect  trust  in  God  as  his  helper  and  guide,  he  will 
go  to  God  in  prayer,  and  his  wants  will  have  God's  atten- 
tion. Prayer  is  the  expression  of  the  Church's  faith  in 
and  union  with  God,  and  of  the  using  of  this  power. 
The  church  accustomed  to  pray,  like  a  plant  is  always  re- 
ceiving the  dews  and  refreshings  of  heaven.  The  essence 
of  prayer,  then,  is  spiritual,  and  not  in  the  forms  of 
words.  Filial  trust,  faith,  love,  conscious  dependence, 
unbounded  confidence  in  the  Father's  promise,  accom- 
panied by  personal  holiness  and  harmony  with  the  holy 
will  of  God — these  make  prayer,  and  make  it  effectual. 
Dean  Stanley  says  of  private  prayer,  and  this  may  apply 
to  the  prayer  of  the  whole  Church:  "We  acknowledge 
the  duty,  we  have  learned  it  from  our  earliest  years  ;  the 
very  practice  carries  us  back  to  the  best  days  of  our 
childhood.  Once  lose  the  habit  and  it  may  be  hard  to 
begin  again  ;  but  once  get  a  firm  hold  of  it,  and  you  will 
feel  that  to  have  left  it  off,  for  a  single  morning  or  a 
single  evening,  is  like  dropping  one  of  your  daily  employ- 


346  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ments,  like  striking  off  one  of  your  supplies  of  daily 
strength,  like  throwing  away  one  of  your  best  opportuni- 
ties of  being  what  a  Christian  ought  to  be  and  wishes  to 
be." 

2.  In  the  need  of  unity  of  the  spirit  in   prayer.      This 
unity  is  created    by  the     Holy  Spirit,    who  brings    dis- 
cordant spirits   into  one,  in  the  will  of  God. 

"1  y  o      e    Differences    of  will   in   the    Church  are    oc- 
Spirit. 

casioned  by  unbelief,  pride,  jealousy,  ambi- 
tion, indifference  to  truth,  in  fine,  the  working  of  the 
selfish  principle  ;  such  differences  prove  the  absence  of 
the  Spirit,  or  of  the  spiritual  mind.  Personal  contro- 
versies, strifes  for  precedence,  sectarian  conflicts,  doc- 
trinal errors  and  discords,  all  human  things  that  separate, 
abound  where  the  life  of  the  Spirit  does  not  abound  ; 
but  when  Christians  are  brought  into  one  mind,  with  one 
accord,  there  is  the  uniting  work  of  the  divine  Spirit,  and 
prayers  become  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit,  the  utter- 
ances of  the  desires  of  Christ's  heart,  and  are  powerful 
with  God  ;  and  that  is  the  place,  above  all  others,  which 
draws  the  assimilating  love  and  power  of  Heaven  to 
it.  This  unity  of  the  spirit  of  the  Church  implies  also 
true  repentance,  the  humble,  obedient,  and  holy  mind, 
brought  into  one  with  the  mind  and  spirit  of  God  and  of 
his  holy  kingdom  and  people.  Instead  of  many  cen- 
tres, as  in  the  world,  where  every  individual  will  is  its 
own  centre  of  life  and  purpose,  there  is  one  common 
centre  of  life  in  Christ  ;  *  and  this  is  the  work  of  the 
unifying  Spirit. 

3.  The  cultivation  of  a  spirit  of  constant  prayer  and 
supplication.  Christians,  we  are  told,  should  "pray 
always  with  all  prayer  ;"   they  should  "  continue  instant 


'  See  Maurice's  Letter  to  Palmer. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    347 

in  prayer."     The  whole  life  of  the  Christian  should  be, 
in    Origen's   words,    "  one    great    continual 
prayer,"  for  this  is  the  expression  of  an  abid-        P'" 
ing  faith  in  God  as  the  real   Strengthener,       prayer. 
Vindicator,    Redeemer    of    the    soul.     The 
church  member,  therefore,  should  not  expect  to  be  made 
prayerful  at  the  prayer-meeting  if  he  carries  thither  no 
spirit  of  prayer  ;  but  he  should  live  in  such  a  prayerful 
state,  that   to  meet  his  brethren  to  pray  is  but  giving  an 
opportunity  for  the  manifestation  of  this  spirit,  and  is 
therefore  the  greatest   of  privileges.      Christians  coming 
together  without  the  spirit  of  prayer,  with  cold  hearts, 
will  kindle  no  new  life,  but  will  help  to  freeze  one  anoth- 
er ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  concourse  of  truly  be- 
lieving, praying,  loving  hearts,  will  produce  a  more  pow- 
erful flame  of  devotion,  so  that  each  and  all  will  glow  with 
increased  ardor,  and  advance  more  rapidly  in  holiness. 

The  pastor  should  also  set  forth  the  reasons  or  motives 
which  should   draw  Christians  to  the  social  prayer-meet- 
ing, as  to  the  most  profitable  of  all  their  meetings  and 
services — such  motives  as  the  love  of  a  com- 
mon Saviour,  fidelity  to  covenant  vows  and       ^  ^^^  °^  ^ 

responsi- 
obligations,    and    the    attainment    of  higher        bility 

spiritual  life.  A  constant  attendance  upon 
the  meeting  of  social  prayer  will  tell  powerfully  upon  a 
Christian's  life  and  character,  as  will  a  constant  neglect 
of  the  prayer-meeting.  As  disciples  of  Christ,  we  cannot 
live  alone  :  we  are  born  into  a  household  ;  and  there  can 
be,  as  a  general  rule,  no  great  advance  made  in  holiness, 
away  from  tlie  common  life,  the  common  hope,  the  com- 
mon love.  One  cannot  well  grow  holy  entirely  by  him- 
self. And,  lastly,  he  should  urge  the  motive  of  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  work.  This  must  come,  and  can  come 
only,    through    common    prayer    and     striving.        What 


348  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Christian  can  be  exempted  from  this  ?  There  is  a  work 
to  be  done,  as  well  as  a  holiness  to  be  attained.  Other 
souls  are  to  be  converted  and  built  up  in  the  faith,  as 
well  as  one's  own  soul  to  be  purified  and  saved  ;  and  a 
genuine  desire  to  benefit  men  will  bring  Christians  to  the 
prayer-meeting,  to  seek  God's  aid,  to  obtain  strength  to 
work.  The  answer  to  their  prayers  for  the  conversion 
and  good  of  men  is  often,  we  doubt  not,  in  God's  making 
them  the  instrumentality  in  doing  this  work,  endowing 
them  with  a  winning  and  overcoming  power.  Thus  we 
hold  that  prayer  should  be  always  accompanied  by  the 
earnest,  vigorous  use  of  every  other  instrumentality  of 
good.  Prayer  does  not  take  the  place  of  active  effort. 
Good  is  not  accomplished  by  men's  praying  and  not  work- 
ing. A  church  may  pray  for  the  conversion  of  the  world 
till  doomsday  ;  but  if  it  lifts  not  a  finger  to  aid  the  cause, 
and  goes  not  forth,  with  strenuous  purpose  and  self-deny- 
ing labor,  to  bring  the  new  kingdom  of  light  and  love 
into  men's  hearts,  the  world,  as  far  as  that  church  is  con- 
cerned, will  roll  darkling  on  forever.  Prayer  aids  work, 
prompts  the  best  methods,  inspires  Christian  zeal,  and 
makes  it  successful. 

But  in  regard  to  the  meeting  itself,  so  much  depends 
upon  the  pastor  for  its  right  conduct,  that  he,  above 
others,  should  be  prepared  in  his  own  mind  and  heart, 
and  should  not  approach  it  with  a  cold,  preoccupied 
mind  ;  for  an  unspiritual  leader  kills  the  life  of  the 
prayer-meeting.  There  is  an  intellectual  preparation 
which  he  should  make  in  his  selection  of  the  passage  of 
Scripture,  the  hymns,  the  theme  of  prayer  and  contem- 
plation, and  the  general  direction  to  be  given  to  the  meet- 
ing, which  lend  it  interest,  aim,  and  depth. 

Let  us  look  now  at  some  things  to  be  avoided  in  the 
conduct  of  a  prayer-meeting. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS   TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    349 

Self-confidence    and     self-display.      In    all  the    pastor 
says  and  does  he  should  reprove  this  spirit  in 

himself  and   in  others.      He  should   impress  "things  to  be 

,  .     .  ,         .     .  .  •  1      /-     1  avoided  in  a 

the  conviction  that  it  is  a  meeting^  with   Ciod 

*="  prayer- 

for  divine  ends,  and  not  for  the  exhibition  of  meeting, 
man's  methods,  thoughts,  or  powers.  There 
may  be  freedom,  freshness,  intellectual  life,  brought  in, 
but  there  should  be  no  display  of  these,  and  there  is  no 
spot  where  such  display  is  more  out  of  place.  The  pres- 
ence of  God,  the  desire  to  reach  God,  the  hungering  and 
thirsting  after  the  gifts  and  life  of  God — in  a  word,  the 
devotional  character  of  the  meeting — should  not  be 
lost  sight  of  ;  it  is  not  a  meeting  for  preaching,  but  for 
prayer  ;  the  didactic,  the  intellectual,  the  human 
element,  should  make  place  for  the  devotional  ;  all  the 
remarks  and  instruction  should  be  but  for  the  purpose  of 
guiding  the  soul  in  its  petitions,  and  awakening  faith  in 
the  power  of  prayer  and  the  nearness  of  God. 

A  complaining,  petulant,  desponding  spirit.  There 
may  be  solemn  admonition  and  faithful  pleading  (indeed, 
this  is  the  time  for  saying  plain  things)  ;  but  to  give  way 
to  a  discouraged,  fault-finding  spirit  is  wrong  toward 
God,  and  it  extinguishes  what  feeble  hope  there  may  be. 
It  does  no  good  to  be  always  telling  the  church  how  dead 
and  cold  it  is  ;  but  let  there  be  life  in  one's  self,  and 
that  will  communicate  itself  to  others.  Some  church- 
members  are  in  a  chronic  state  of  complaint,  and  this  is 
their  only  capital.  They  should  be  silenced  by  the  breath 
and  prevalence  of  a  higher  spirit.  Let  the  prayer-meet- 
ing be  a  serious  and  thoughtful,  but  still  a  cheerful  place 
— a  place  of  light  when  all  around  and  outside  may  seem 
dark.  True  emotion  is  not  often  highly  intensified,  but 
rather  expressive  of  an  even  sentiment  of  cheerful  hope. 
If  this  is   the  tone  of  the  prayer-meeting,  troubled  and 


35°  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

restless  souls  will  run  to  it  for  comfort,  peace,  and  re- 
freshment. 

Monotonousness.  While  there  may  be  a  certain 
degree  of  steady  uniformity,  the  meeting  should  not  be 
permitted  to  fall  into  a  groove.  One  Christian  brother 
— especially  the  pastor — -should  not  do  all  the  praying 
or  speaking  ;  neither  should  one  truth  or  aspect  of  truth 
— not  even  the  subject  of  a  reviving  of  faith — become  a 
fixed  theme  of  remark  or  petition.  Routine  should  be 
broken  up,  if  needful,  by  bold  summary  methods. 
Different  minds  should  be  brought  out  ;  all  talents  should 
be  developed  ;  the  monstrous  error  that  one  should  be 
past  forty  or  fifty  years  old  before  he  has  a  right  to 
speak  in  a  prayer-meeting  should  be  exploded,  and 
young  men  should  be  summoned  to  the  front.  Passing 
events  should  be  taken  advantage  of,  and  the  present 
moment  should  be  infused  into  the  meeting. 

Long  prayers.  "  Where  weariness  begins,  devotion 
ends."  Long  prayers,  long  remarks,  long  hymns,  and 
long  exercises,  excepting  in  times  of  extraordinary  in- 
terest, are  dull  things.  The  meeting  should  rarely  run 
over  the  appointed  hour  ;  but  while  there  should  be  no 
miserable  rule  as  to  time,  yet  there  should  be  prompt 
movement  in  the  meeting.  All  should  be  natural,  fluent, 
and  free.  Brethren  should  be  encouraged  to  pray  for 
what  they  want,  for  no  less  and  no  more.  There  should 
be  a  basis  of  sincere  desire  in  every  petition  offered,  and 
nothing  should  be  uttered  for  form's  sake.  If  this  prin- 
ciple were  observed,  the  prayers  of  the  best  Christians 
would  be  abbreviated  ;  for  how  much  more  do  Christians 
often  ask  for  in  their  prayers  than  they  desire  !  The 
Lord's  Prayer,  which  comprehends  this  world  and  eter- 
nity, how  short  it  is  !  The  publican's  prayer,  how  few 
its  words  !     The  feelingr  that  one  is    obliged  to  make  a 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIOA^S  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    351 

long  prayer,  or  a  long  address,  prevents  many  a  modest 
man  from  taking  part  in  the  exercises,  who,  perhaps, 
would  be  able  and  willing  to  utter  one  valuable  thought 
springing  from  his  own  experience,  or  to  put  up  one 
humble  petition   from  the  depths  of  his  soul. 

But  let  us  now  look  at  the  things  to  be  specially  cared 
and  sought  for  in  the  conduct  of  a  prayer-meeting. 

A  full    attendance.      The    pastor,  to    bring  about  this 
result,     will     find  it     necessary    to     converse 
privately    with    persons,  as   well    as    instruct    ^"'"^^  to  be 

,1-1  1  1  •  TT        1        1  1    1  •     11        sought  for  in 

publicly  on  the  subject.      He  should  kmdh^ 
^  ^  ■'  •'a  prayer- 

admonish  Christians  of  their    duty  to  Christ       meeting. 

and  his    kingdom,  and    thus  warn    or  win,  if 

possible,  all  church-members  to  come,  with  more  or  less 

regularity,   to  the    prayer-meeting  ;  and,   above  all,   the 

pastor  should  be  present  himself,  and  lead  the  meeting. 

A  good  beginning.  A  veteran  laborer  in  God's  vine- 
yard says  that  the  pastor,  or  leader,  should  call  upon 
the  most  spiritual  first  to  strike  the  key-note  of  the  meet- 
ing ;  for  it  rarely  rises  above  its  beginning.  It  is  well  to 
have  one  definite  truth  for  meditation,  springing  from 
the  Word  of  God,  and  thus  the  meeting  will  be  grounded 
in  the  spirit  and  will  of  God  ;  but  no  method  should  be 
rigid. 

Freedom.  It  sometimes  happens  that  a  church- 
member,  from  age,  character,  or  will,  obtains  a  licensed 
tyranny  over  a  prayer-meeting,  to  the  repression  of 
spontaneous  feeling  and  speech  on  the  part  of  the  other 
members  ;  which  domination  over  the  free  utterance  of 
the  brotherhood  should  not  be  submitted  to.  The  pas- 
tor should  jealously  guard  the  freedom  of  the  meeting, 
and  should  nourish  the  most  timid  manifestations  of  the 
Spirit    from   all  true   followers  of    Christ.      He    should 


352  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

encourage  all  expression  of  sincere  thought  and  desire, 
and  he  should  suffer  no  undue  influence  of  any  kind  to 
weigh  upon  the  perfect  freedom  of  the  meeting,  not  even 
the  too  great  freedom   of  some. 

Point.  Even  in  the  wording  of  prayer  there  should 
be  direct  and  precise  language.  Superfluous  sentences, 
long  parentheses,  vague  and  unmeaning  expressions, 
should  be  avoided  in  the  pastor's  prayer  ;  and  this  will 
teach  others  ;  but,  above  all,  there  should  be  definiteness 
of  object  in  the  petition  ;  something  in  particular  should 
be  prayed  for  ;  and  it  need  not  always  be,  as  we  have 
said,  specifically,  a  revival  of  faith,  but  some  other  object 
which  bears  upon  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  people, 
and  which  may  be  preparatory  to  a  higher  spiritual  life  ; 
such  as  ignorance  and  darkness  of  mind  in  regard  to 
divine  things  ;  the  critical  state  of  the  country  ;  some 
afflicting  event  or  bereavement  of  general  interest  ;  the 
need  of  a  better  understanding  and  obedience  of  some 
principle  of  morality  ;  some  needed  reform  ;  some  doc- 
trine or  grace,  which  has,  perhaps,  lain  long  neglected  ; 
the  religious  welfare  of  business  men  ;  the  prevailing 
evils  of  the  community  ;  the  condition  of  the  impenitent 
of  the  congregation  ;  the  preaching  of  the  Word  on  the 
"  Lord's  day  ;"  the  religious  state  and  training  of  the 
young  ;  family  religion  ;  the  growth  of  holiness  in  the 
individual  heart. 

Life.  Whatever  else  the  prayer-meeting  fails  in,  it 
should  have  life.  Living  thoughts,  living  prayers,  com- 
ing from  the  heart  of  man,  and  going  to  the  heart  of 
God,  should  be  sought  for.  The  Holy  Spirit — the 
"  Creator  Spirit" — should  truly  inspire  the  prayers,  and 
breathe  new  life  through  the  services.  Coldness,  dead- 
ness,  sin,  unbelief,  are  nothing  but  the  results  of  the 
soul's  separation  from  God  ;  and  this  fellowship  with  God 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.   353 

the  Spirit,  being  renewed,  there  comes  life  in  the  souls 
of  God's  children,  and  this  is  manifested  to  all  in  their 
prayers.  Through  all  that  is  said  and  done,  there  should 
pour  an  ever-flowing  current  of  life  from  the  fountain  of 
life. 

Fervent  faith.  Such  a  faith  is  invincible  ;  and  the 
believer  prays  on,  whether  there  be  few  or  many  to  pray 
with  him,  grateful  for  the  least  answers  of  prayer,  hun- 
gering and  thirsting  to  be  filled,  believing  that  the  prayer 
will  be  answered,  and  that  the  blessing  will  surely  come. 
The  woman  of  old  time  who  was  willing  to  take  the 
crumbs  that  fell  from  the  master's  table,  is  a  type  of  this 
humble  but  courageous  spirit,  faithful  in  times  of 
declension,  living  in  the  love  of  God,  never  distrusting 
Christ,  never  despairing  of  his  aid.  One  such  praying 
believer,  though  the  humblest  of  the  flock,  is  an  inesti- 
mable possession  to  any  church,  and  should  be  greatly 
valued  by  the  pastor  ;  for  such  a  soul  forms  a  perpetual 
germ  of  revived  life. 

In  conclusion,  the  prayer-meeting  should  be  something 
real — it  should  mean  progress  in  holy  living,  in  purity, 
in  love,  and  in  every  good  work  for  men.  It  should  pre- 
pare Christians  to  serve  Christ.  It  should  string  their 
nerves  to  fight  the  good  fight.  It  should  not  be  sustained 
simply  because  it  is  the  custom  of  the  church  to  have 
such  a  meeting,  and  because  it  has  come  down  from  the 
most  ancient  and  even  apostolic  times  ;  but  it  should  be 
regarded  as  an  actual  working  power — as  a  means  of 
present  good.  By  it,  the  preaching  of  the  Word  may  be 
greatly  aided  ;  for  without  the  prayers  of  the  church,  the 
preaching  of  the  pastor  is  not  likely  to  be  successful,  since 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  must  be  concurrent  with  the 
publication  of  the  truth. 


354  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Sec.  20.  Baptism  and  the  Lo7'd's  Supper. 

The  true  theory  in  regard  to  the  two  sacraments 
of  the  Christian  Church,  viewed  more  especially  in  their 
practical  relations  to  the  pastor's  responsibility  and  their 
right  observance  as  ordinances  connected  with  Christian 
worship — the  general  subject  we  are  now  treating — this 
is  about  the  extent  of  the  ground  we  are,  in  this  place, 
called  upon  to  go  over.  Baptism  has  in  it  perhaps  less 
of  the  element  of  worship  than  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  it 
is,  nevertheless,  the  initiation  into  true  Christian  wor- 
ship ;  it  is  a  consecrating  rite  in  which  the  Church  de- 
votes itself  and  its  members  to  the  service  of  God  ;  and 
therefore  it  is  essentially  a  rite  of  worship. 

The  rite  of  baptism  signifies  or  stands  mainly  for  four 

things. 

(i)  It  is  a  symbol  of  inward  moral  purifica- 

.     .^       tion.      This  is  the  simplest,  oldest,  and  per- 
tism  signifies.  ^ 

haps  the  original  idea  of  the  rite — viz.,  wash- 
ing by  water  to  symbolize  inward  cleansing.  Those  who 
came  to  John  to  be  baptized  came  "  confessing  their 
sins  ;"  and  the  apostles  baptized  "  for  the  remission  of 
sins."  The  idea  of  turning  away  from  the  world  or  from 
Satan  and  all  his  works — of  giving  up  the  world  and  its 
sin  and  evil— is  contained  in  almost  all  the  more  ancient 
formulas  of  baptism  ;  and  the  Reformed  churches  of 
Germany  still  em.ploy  this  formula,  "  giving  up  Satan  and 
all  his  works,  and  renouncing  the  world,  the  flesh,  and 
the  devil." 

(2)  It  is  a  sign  of  initiation  into  the  name  or  faith  of 
Jesus  Christ.  It  was  of  old  used  as  the  rite  of  entrance 
into  a  new  religion,  or  into  the  name  of  the  new  object  of 
belief,  whatever  it  might  be.  Thus  the  baptism  of  John 
was  an  initiation  into  the  religion  of  repentance  which 
John  preached.      The  baptism  of  Christ  was  an  initiation 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATION'S  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    355 

into  the  Christian  faith.  These  two  general  ideas,  of 
purification  from  sin  and  of  initiation  into  the  faith  of 
Christ,  are  fundamental  ones,  though  there  are  others, 
which  we  now  proceed  to  mention,  that  flow  out  of  them 
and  are  peculiar  to  the  Christian  use  of  the  rite. 

(3)  It  is  an  actual  introduction  into  the  membership  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and,  we  may  add,  if  rightly  received, 
an  introduction  into  the  fuller  rights  and  privileges  of 
Christ's  kingdom.  It  is  a  solemn  consecration  to  the  ser- 
vice and  Church  of  Christ.  There  is,  indeed,  no  magical 
transforming  power  in  the  outward  rite,  but  it  is  a  solemn 
act  introducing  into  a  new  relationship,  like  the  marriage 
ceremony  or  the  coronation  of  a  monarch.  It  is  also  ac- 
companied and  followed  by  new  powers  and  privileges 
which  this  new  relationship  confers.  It  is  that  objective 
act  by  which  one  is  constituted  a  member  of  the  Church 
of  Christ,  by  which  he  is  incorporated  into  the  body  and 
the  communion  of  the  Church.  Christ  said,  "  Go  ye 
therefore  and  teach  (disciple)  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  '  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.'  "  As  soon  as  they  were  "  discipled,"  they 
were  baptized.  How  readily  this  was  done  there  are 
numerous  instances  in  the  New  Testament.  Three  thou- 
sand were  baptized  on  the  clay  of  Pentecost  ;  a  whole 
Samaritan  city  was  baptized  by  Philip  at  once  ;  the 
eunuch,  the  jailer,  the  centurion,  Simon  Magus,  were 
immediately  baptized,  as  soon  as  they  professed  faith  in 
Christ.  When  they  were  "  discipled,"  or  received,  or 
even  in  some  instances  but  seemed  to  receive,  the  faith 
of  Christ,  then  on  the  strength  of  this  faith  they  were 
baptized  and  taken  into  the  Church.  Their  faith  was 
not  fully  developed,  and  in  some  cases,  as  has  been  said, 
it  was  only  apparent.  Here,  we  conceive,  in  this  free- 
dom and  magnanimity    of  the  primitive  Church,  is  the 


356  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

place  where  little  children  may  be  received  into  the  Church 
by  baptism.      They  are  taken  in  as   "disci- 
ples," who  by  the  faith  of  their  parents  are 
baptism,      r      ^  J  1 

already  pledged  to  God,  and  will  be  taught 
and  nurtured  in  Christ,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  upon 
this  faith  and  faithfulness  of  their  believing  parents,  will 
become  Christ's  true  disciples.  They  are  baptized  as 
those  who  are  introduced  into  the  Christian  blessings 
which  baptism  signifies.  They  are  baptized  into  the 
name  of  the  Father — that  is,  they  are  to  be  considered  as 
His  children  ;  and  of  the  Son,  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour 
and  Best  Friend  ;  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  their  Guide, 
Helper,  and  Renovator.  Even  little  children  have  need  of 
the  blood  and  spirit  of  Christ,  and  can  receive  this  re- 
generation, or  we  limit  God's  power.  Baptism  is  the 
simple  expression  of  God's  fatherly  love  and  grace. 

There  is  a  heavenly  Father  of  the  child,  as  well  as  an 
earthly  father.  The  baptized  child  is  thus  treated  as  if 
he  were  one  who  had  a  soul  to  save  ;  he  is  brought  into 
communion  with  the  spiritual  benefits  which  Christ  gives 
in  his  kingdom  ;  he  is  put  into  Jesus'  arms,  who  said, 
"  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid 
them  not."  A  study  of  the  true  force  of  this  expression 
l-iadriTevffars  (Matt.  28  :  19)  will  enlarge  our  hope  and 
zeal  as  pastors,  and  will  explain  many  difficult  things. 

The  pastor  should  never  lose  sight  of  these  children  of 
the  Church,  who  are  thus  constituted  in  one  sense  mem- 
bers of  the  Church,  to  be  cared  for  and  educated  in  all  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord  ;  for  they  are  the 
hope  of  the  future  Church,  those  whom  Christ  has  already 
"claimed  as  his  own  by  the  seal  of  baptism,  and  the  cove- 
nant of  promise  accorded  to  parental  faith  and  faithfid- 
ness.  The  theory  of  the  Episcopal  Church  in  respect  to 
children,  beginning  with  their  baptism  and  ending  in  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.     357 

rite  of  confirmation,  when  faithfully  carried  out,  is  one 
which,  in  many  respects,  deserves  a  profound  considera- 
tion, as  exemplifying  the  Church's  tender  care  of  its  chil- 
dren, and  its  far-seeing  wisdom  in  regard  to  its  own  pros- 
perity and  very  existence. 

In  regard  to  this  practical  question  of  infant  baptism, 
which  will  meet  the  pastor  on  the  threshold  of  his 
ministry,  we  do  not  hold  that  a  man  should  be  considered 
a  heretic  who  should  place  himself  on  either  side  of  this 
question  ;  but  we  would  express  the  opinion  that  nature. 
Church  history,  the  Scriptures,  and  the  profoundest 
theory  of  the  Christian  Church  point  in  favor  of  the 
baptism  of  infants  ;  and  yet  there  is  just  enough  of  the 
want  of  that  positive  declaration  of  Scripture,  that 
decisive  proof,  which  would  render  it  unjust  to  bind  the 
conscience  on  one  side  or  the  other.  The  historic  argu- 
ment is  a  strong  one  ;  the  usage  of  the  Church  is  to  be 
traced  up  past  the  times  of  Tertullian  and  Origen  (the 
first  of  whom  opposed  the  usage  which  proves  its  prev- 
alence in  his  day),  to  the  time  of  Irenaeus  in  the  first 
century  after  the  apostles.  And  the  usage  seems  to 
have  been  based  by  these  wTiters  upon  apostolical  au- 
thority. 

In  the  New  Testament  there  would  appear  to  be  no 
decisive  proof  against  the  fact  of  infant  baptism,  while 
there  appears  to  be  much  presumptive  proof  in  its  favor. 
It  was  quite  natural  that  the  children  of  believing  families 
should  be  baptized  with  their  parents,  and  no  particular 
mention,  excepting  in  a  general  way,  be  made  of  it.  It 
was  the  beginning  of  the  triumphs  of  the  Christian  faith, 
and  whole  families  from  the  Jews  and  pagans  turned  to 
Christianity,  the  children  as  a  matter  of  course  thus 
being  received  along  with  their  parents  into  the  protect- 
ing pale  of  the  Church,     In  the  same  way  missionaries 


358  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

at  the  present  day  are  in  the  habit  of  receiving  and  bap- 
tizing the  children  of  converted  heathen,  and  do  not 
think  of  mentioning  it.  Some  of  the  passages  which 
would  indicate  that  whole  families  were  thus  received  by 
baptism  into  the  Apostolic  Church  are  Acts  10  :  2,  44, 
48  ;    16  :  15,  30-33  ;    18:8;    i  Cor.  i  :  16  ;    16  :  15. 

The  analogies  also  between  Mark  10  :  14  and  i  Cor. 
7  :  14,  though  not  decisive  evidence,  strengthen  the  pre- 
sumption. 

Here  is  to  be  found  one  of  the  main  duties  of  the  pas- 
tor in  connection  with  the  rite  of  baptism — that  he  shall 
see  to  it  that  the  children  of  his  flock,  and  above  all  the 
baptized  children  of  the  Christian  Church,  are  reared  in  a 
Christian  way.  We  shall  speak  of  this  when  we  come  to 
the  subject  of  Christian  Nurture  ;  but  to  enforce  the 
worth  and  beauty  of  this  rite  of  the  consecration  of  the 
children  of  believers  by  baptism^ — corresponding  to  if  not 
immediately  springing  from  the  Old  Testament  covenant 
of  believers  and  their  households  with  the  God  of  the 
Abrahamic  family  as  sealed  by  the  rite  of  circumcision — 
this  is  his  privilege.  He  should  follow  this  up  with  the 
parents  and  the  children,  reminding  both  of  their  duties 
— the  parents  that  they  have  promised,  and  the  children 
that  they  are  promised  to  God,  and  are  bound  to  God  by 
solemn  bonds,  and  that  God's  sure  promise  is  to  them  if 
faithful.  Here  is  the  hope  and  seed  of  the  Church.  The 
pastor  is  both  blameworthy  and  wanting  in  wisdom  who 
neglects  the  children.  Roman  Catholic  priests  never  fail 
here.  They  begin  at  the  dawn  of  household  life  to 
ecclesiasticize  the  family  ;  how  much  more  should  we,  as 
pastors,  claim  and  instruct,  and  Christianly  nourish  those 
who  really  belong  to  Christ,  who  are  presented  to  him  in 
faith,  who  are  set  apart  in  baptism  ;  who  are,  in  one 
sense,    already   members   of    the   household   and     family 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     359 

which  is  the  Church.  That  which  corresponds  to  the 
beautiful  Episcopal  rite  of  confirmation,  when  truly 
carried  out,  might  be  adopted  by  every  church  in  regard 
to  its  youth — that  a  careful  and  definite  instruction  in  the 
doctrines  and  the  duties  of  Christianity  should  precede 
their  actual  entrance  into  the  bosom  of  the  Church,  into 
whose  watch,  care,  and  fellowship  they  have  already 
been  adopted  by  baptism.  As  to  the  question  whether 
all  children — children  of  church-members  or  not — should 
be  baptized,  we  would  say  that  though  not  orderly,  in  an 
ecclesiastical  sense,  it  is  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  that  all  children  should  be  baptized  into  the 
name  of  Christ  ;  and  we  sympathize  with  the  words  of  a 
recent  writer  : 

"  Is  it  a  fact  that  all  souls  are  God's  ;  that  his  fatherly 
blessing  waits  for  all,  and  his  redeeming  grace  is  sufficient 
for  all  ;  that  every  child  may  be  taught  to  say  '  Our 
Father  '?  Is  it  true  that  baptism  is  the  simple  declara- 
tion of  this  fact — the  recognition  on  behalf  of  the  in- 
dividual of  this  universal  truth  ?  What,  then,  hinders 
the  making  of  this  declaration  on  behalf  of  any  child  ? 
It  is  the  most  momentous  truth  that  can  be  uttered  re- 
specting him  ;  it  is  the  one  truth  he  needs  to  know  ;  it 
ought  to  be  one  of  the  first  truths  taught  him  ;  he  should 
grow  from  his  infancy  unto  the  realization  of  the  privi- 
leges and  the  duties  which  spring  from  this  relation. 
The  parents  are  perfectly  competent  to  have  this  declara- 
tion made  on  behalf  of  their  child.  He  may  be  a 
prodigal  and  disobedient  child  ;  but  he  will  still  be  God's 
child.  This  is  the  one  fact  to  keep  before  him  all  the 
days  of  his  life.  To  have  this  fact  impressively  declared 
in  his  behalf  in  his  earliest  infancy  would  seem  to  be  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for  believing  parents  to 
do. 


360  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

"  Of  course  it  is  not  necessary  that  this  formal  declara- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Church  should  be  made  more 
than  once.  When  the  child  is  old  enough  to  enter  into 
covenant  with  the  Church,  it  is  only  necessary  that  he 
should  signify  his  belief  in  the  truth  of  the  declaration 
made  concerning  him  in  his  infancy. 

"  This  theory  might  require  the  revision  of  some  of 
our  Confessions  of  Faith.  The  phrase  is  common  to 
many  of  these  confessions  that  '  believers  and  their 
households  only  '  are  proper  subjects  of  baptism.  This 
is  commonly  understood  to  mean  members  of  the 
Church  and  their  children.  But  there  appears  to  be  no 
good  reason  why  any  child  should  be  refused  baptism. 
If  all  souls  are  God's,  the  declaration  of  this  fact  may  be 
safely  made  on  behalf  of  any  infant,  whether  its  parents 
are  members  of  the  Church  or  not.  And  if  parents,  not 
members  of  the  Church,  bring  their  children  to  me  for 
baptism,  I  will  say  to  them,  '  Certainly  your  children 
belong  to  God.  As  the  minister  of  Christ  I  am  ready  to 
recognize  them  as  belonging  to  him,  and  to  baptize  them 
into  his  name.  And  now,  since  you  ask  to  have  this 
declaration  made  concerning  them,  will  you  remember  to 
teach  them  as  soon  as  they  are  old  enough  to  understand, 
that  they  are  the  children  of  their  Father  in  heaven,  and 
that  their  first  duty  is  to  know  his  will  and  to  do  it  ?  ' 
If  parents  are  ready  to  make  this  promise,  I  see  no  good 
reason  why  their  children  may  not  be  baptized." 

Now,  as  God  does  not  require  of  infant  disciples 
what  he  does  of  grown  disciples,  it  would  be  both 
absurd  and  wrong  to  admit  by  baptism  an  intelligent 
man  into  a  communion  of  which  he  has  no  intelligent 
knowledge,  or  with  which  and  with  its  faith  he  has  no 
true  personal  sympathy.  There  is  evidently  a  higher 
standard  for  him.      Without  personal  faith  in  Christ,  as  a 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    361 

real  experience,  credibly  attested,  he  could  not  reason- 
ably expect  to  be  admitted  by  baptism  into  Christ's 
Church.  God,  by  his  apostles,  did  not  require  so  much 
of  those  who  were  baptized  out  of  heathenism,  as  he  did 
of  tlie  Jewish  converts,  or  as  he  does  of  Christians  now. 
Thus  (as  we  have  already  remarked)  there  are  degrees  of 
faith  among  those  received  into  the  Church,  as  there 
are  degrees  of  education,  age,  capacity,  opportunity,  in 
which  the  pastor  is  chiefly  called  upon  to  make  due  dis- 
crimination. He  must  not  keep  the  door  too  close  or  too 
open.  He  must  not  raise  the  standard  of  admission  too 
high,  but  make  it  a  true  standard  for  every  particular 
case.  In  an  infant  "  disciple"  it  may  be  God's  j^ure 
grace  operating  without  any  act  on  his  part  ;  in  an  intel- 
ligent child  some  beginnings  of  knowledge  and  faith  are  to 
be  looked  for  ;  in  an  adult,  motives  and  beliefs  are  to  be 
examined  with  some  degree  of  rigor  ;  and  yet  even  here 
you  would  not  require  that  of  a  poor  and  ignorant  person 
which  you  would  require  of  one  who  has  had  every  intel- 
lectual and  moral  advantage.  The  only  scriptural  con- 
dition of  adult  baptism,  for  learned  and  unlearned,  is 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  testified  to  by  a  vvilling  confession  of 
him,  and  by  the  beginning  of  a  good  and  righteous  life. 
No  pastor  or  church  may  refuse  the  initiatory  rite  of 
baptism  to  any  true  believer  in  Jesus  Christ,  nor  may  he 
overload  the  conditions  of  admission  into  the  Church  of 
Christ  with  arbitrary  human  conditions. 

4.  It  is  a  pledge  and  promise  of  the  fullest  gifts  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  At  baptism  one  enters  into  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church  in  which  the  Holy  Spirit  peculiarly 
dwells  and  dispenses  his  largest  blessings.  This  is  open- 
ing the  door,  as  it  were,  to  the  bestowing  of  the  greatest 
spiritual  gifts.  Even  as  the  water  is  poured  upon  the 
head,  so  shall  spiritual  influences  be  poured   out  in  still 


362  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

greater  effusion  upon  the  soul.  The  nature  shall  be 
cleansed  of  its  defilements  as  in  pure  water,  and  filled 
with  the  Holy  Ghost  ;  and  then  shall  the  man  worship 
God  and  serve  him  with  his  whole  consecrated  being. 
Origen,  while  clearly  discriminating  between  the  outward 
symbol  and  the  inward  grace  which  it  signifies,  finely, 
though  perhaps  mystically,  expresses  the  sanctifying  in- 
fluence of  the  rite  when  fitly  bestowed  :  "  Outward  bap- 
tism," he  says,  "considered  as  to  its  highest  end,  is  a 
symbol  of  the  inward  cleansing  of  the  soul  through  the 
divine  power  of  the  Logos,  which  is  preparatory  to  the 
universal  recovery — that  beginning  in  the  enigma,  in 
the  glass  darkly,  shall  afterward  be  perfected  in  the  open 
vision  face  to  face  ;  but  at  the  same  time,  by  virtue  of  the 
consecration,  there  is  connected  with  the  whole  act  of 
baptism  a  supernatural  sanctifying  power  ;  it  is  the  com- 
mencing part  of  gracious  influences  bestowed  on  the 
faithful,  although  it  is  so  only  for  such  as  are  fitted,  by 
the  disposition  of  their  hearts,  for  the  reception  of  these 
influences." 

As  to  the  practical  question  in  regard  to  the  fit  person 
to  administer  the  rite,  involving  the  question  of  rebaptism, 
undoubtedly  the  proper  administrator  of  the  rite  is  the 
regular  ordained  pastor,  but  if  the  baptism  has  been  made 
in  the  New  Testament  form,  even  if  it  has  been  done  by 
a  minister  esteemed  heretical,  or  by  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest,  it  should  be  considered  valid.  It  has  been,  at  all 
events,  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  that  the  character  of 
the  administrator  did  not  impugn  the  efficacy  of  a 
Christian  observance.  This  also  is  the  doctrine  even  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  John  Robinson  said  that 
"  baptism  by  an  unlawful  minister,  of  an  unfit  subject, 
and  in  an  unsanctified  communion,  and  in  an  unlawful 
manner,  is  true  baptism  unlawfully  and   falsely  adminis- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SUIT.    l^T, 

tcred."  Baptism  is  a  solemn  rite  introducing  to  new  re- 
lationships, privileges,  and  blessings,  and  is  not  to  be 
carelessly  regarded,  nor  needlessly  repeated  ;  and  in  its 
very  act  it  should  be  administered  with  devotional  solem- 
nity, and  not  as  a  parenthesis  in  the  services. 

As  to  the  mere  mode  of  administering  the  rite,  the  con- 
troversy that  has  sprung  up  is  unfortunate,  because  the 
real  import  of  the  rite  does  not  consist  in  the 

r  i,-.i  '  -r  ri  t  Mode  of 

form  but  m  the  signihcance  of  theordmance,      ,      ^. 

^  '       baptism. 

as  in  the  passage,  "  neither  circumcision  nor 
uncircumcision  availeth  anything,  but  a  new  creature." 
Baptism  certainly  means  to  wash  or  wet  ;  to  pour  water 
upon,  or  dip  in  water.  We  are  strongly  inclined  to  the 
belief  that  the  most  common  mode  of  baptism  in  the 
early  Church,  when  it  was  practicable,  was  by  immersion 
in  living  water,  as  the  original  meaning  of  "  baptize"  is 
"  to  plunge,"  or  "  to  wash  by  plunging  in  the  water  ;" 
and  this  mode  certainly  symbolizes  more  vividly  the 
great  Christian  truth  of  "  being  buried  in  the  death  of 
Christ  ;"  yet  we  have  no  less  confident  belief  that  other 
modes  of  baptism,  by  pouring  and  sprinkling,  were  also 
practised  ;  for  there  are  instances  recorded  where  any 
other  mode  than  pouring  or  sprinkling  would  seem  to 
have  been  impracticable,  or,  at  least  highly  improbable — • 
as  in  Acts  2  :  41,  and  also  10  :  47  ;  16  :  32,  33.  The 
primary  celebration  of  Christian  baptism  on  the  day  of 
Pentecost  is  also  in  point.  The  Old  Testament  law  too, 
which  is  a  strong  analogy,  enjoined  various  ways  of  bap- 
tism ;  it  was  the  use  of  water  as  a  religious  emblem  that 
was  the  main  thing,  and  thus  sometimes  a  part  was  taken 
for  the  whole,  as  in  the  Saviour's  act  of  washing  the  feet, 
signifying  thereby  that  the  whole  person  was  every  whit 
clean.  In  describing  the  Pharisaic  washing  of  the  hands 
before  eating,  the    word    §anri^oo   is    used.       "  Cover- 


364  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ing  with  water,"  whether  by  sprinkling  or  immersion,  is 
the  idea.'  Our  Baptist  brethren,  who  certainly  have 
much  to  say  that  is  strong  on  their  side  of  the  question, 
still  are  inclined  to  make  the  validity  of  the  rite  to  con- 
sist in  the  mode  ;  but  as  to  the  practical  question  for  the 
pastor  who  is  not  a  Baptist,  the  mode  of  baptism  ought 
not  to  give  him  any  serious  trouble.  He  may  prefer  the 
mode  of  sprinkling  ;  yet  if  a  convert  strenuously  desires 
to  be  immersed,  the  pastor  can  solve  the  difficulty  in  two 
v/ays,  either  by  immersing  him,  or,  what  perhaps  is  better 
still,  by  advising  the  candidate  to  become  a  member  of  a 
Baptist  church.  After  having  explained  his  own  views 
candidly,  and  argued  the  matter  on  its  own  merits,  it 
would  be  well  to  leave  the  decision  entirely  to  the  can- 
didate himself. 

The  scriptural  formula  of  baptism  should  not  be  varied, 
and  this  has  always  been  considered  by  the  Christian 
Church  as  essential  to  the  rite — viz.,  "  into  the  name  of 
the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ;" 
for  one  is  baptized  not  into  the  name  of  Christ  alone,  nor 
of  the  Father  alone,  nor  into  Christ,  nor  into  God  ;  but 
"  into  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost."  The  word  "  in"  may  convey  the  idea  of 
"  in  the  authority  of,"  therefore  "  into"  is  not  only  more 
literal  but  more  true,  as  meaning  "  into  the  obedience  or 
possession  of,"  signifying  a  profound  and  everlasting  con- 
secration to  God. 

We  come  now  to  the  consideration  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, which  constitutes  a  delightful  and  blessed  part  of 
the  pastor's  offices  to  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  which  has 


'  See  the  Bryennios  ms   of  "The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles," 
■  in  regard  to  the  method  of  apostolic  baptism. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.     365 

been  called  the  highest  act  of  Christian  worship.'     There 

should  be  a  preparation  for  it,  as  the  apostle 

sets   forth  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of   First 

Supper. 

Corinthians,  which  in  fact  is  the  only  place 
where  the  apostolic  celebration  of  the  Supper  is  fully 
described,  and  where  it  is  called,  "  The  Lord's  Supper" 
(v.  20).  There  should  be  the  preparation  of  mind  and 
heart,  since  spiritual  worship,  service,  and  affection,  seem 
to  culminate  in  this  high  and  holy  feast.  The  prepara- 
tory lecture  of  counsel  and  instruction  in  the  New  Eng- 
land churches  is  one  important  part  of  this  making  ready 
for  the  feast  of  the  Lord's  house,  in  which  the  thoughts 
of  believers  are  broken  off  from  the  current  of  worldly 
things,  and  are  brought  closer  home  to  the  living  source 
of  faith — the  personal  Lord. 

It  should  be  something  like  the  earnest  preparation  of 
a  household  for  the  coming  and  entertainment  of  an 
honored  guest — the  ordering  of  the  house,  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  table,  the  putting  of  all  things  into  fit  and 
festal  attire. 

For  one  to  understand  the  nature  and  simple  ritual  of 
the  institution  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  he  should  under- 
stand its  historical  relations  to  the  Hebrew 

Passover,  out  of  which  it  seemed  to  spring.        '^  °"*^^ 
rr-i  •  ,        •      1  r  1  •      -I  1    relations  to 

They  were  not  identical  feasts,but  similar,and      Hebrew 

the  one  furnished  the  occasion  of  the  other.  Passover. 
The  Passover  was  the  type  of  which  the 
Lord's  Supper  is  the  antitype,  and  so  close  is  the  connec- 
tion, analogy,  or  the  resemblance,  that  the  apostle  could 
say  (i  Cor.  5  :  7,  8),  "  Purge  out  therefore  the  old  leaven, 
that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  as  ye  are  unleavened.  For 
even    Christ    our    Passover   is  sacrificed   for    us."     The 


'  Hagenbach's  "  Grundlinien  Lit.  und  Horn.,"  g  51. 


366  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Lord's  Supper  may,  in  some  sense,  be  called  "  the  Chris- 
tian Passover."  The  gravissima  qucestio,  whether  our 
Lord  did  truly  eat  the  regular  Jewish  Passover  with  his 
disciples,  as  brought  up  by  the  seeming  discrepancy  be- 
tween the  accounts  in  the  synoptical  and  John's  Gospels, 
is  worthy  of  careful  study.  But  whichever  way  this  ques- 
tion is  settled,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Passover 
was  the  historic  germ,  or  type,  or  model,  of  the  eucha- 
ristic  feast,  the  Saviour  himself  being  substituted  for  the 
slain  lamb.  The  word  ' '  eucharist, ' '  by  the  way,  is  an  after- 
thought, and  sprang  from  ft^ja-y^mr/ci?,  the  word  proba- 
bly used  by  the  Lord  in  consecrating  the  elements.  And 
as  they  were  eating  the  Passover  {EaQiovroov  St  avroov), 
Christ  took  bread  and  brake  it.  The  very  symbols  of 
bread  and  wine  then  used  were  originally  what  remained 
of  the  Jewish  feast.  It  is  useful,  therefore,  for  the 
pastor  to  study  the  subject  of  the  Hebrew  Passover,  if 
he  would  catch  the  historic  and  even  moral  import  of 
the  Christian  feast.  Maurice  says,  "  But  sacrifice  can- 
not have  this  ennobling  and  mysterious  power- -it  will  be 
turned  into  self-glory,  and  lose  its  nature  and  acquire  a 
devil-nature — if  it  is  not  contemplated  as  all  flowing' 
from  the  nature  of  God  ;  if  it  is  not  referred  to  him  as  its 
author  as  well  as  its  end.  Think  of  this  as  you  kneel  at 
the  altar,  which  is  more  wonderful  than  any  Jewish  altar, 
because  it  speaks  of  a  finished  Sacrifice.  Think  of  it  as 
you  eat  that  feast  which  is  like  the  Jewish  Passover,  be- 
cause it  is  individual,  because  it  is  common,  because 
it  testifies  of  God  as  a  Redeemer,  as  an  avenger  of  all 
evil  ;  but  which  is  higher  than  the  Jewish  Passover 
because  it  is  human  and  universal,  because  in  it  we 
partake  of  a  sacrifice  which  has  been  offered  to  gather 
together  in  one  the  children  of  God  that  are  scat- 
tered abroad — offered  that  they  might  be  able  to  offer 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    367 

themselves  as  children  to  do  their  P'ather's  work  and 
will."" 

The  following  parallel  truths,  or  similarities,  or  coin- 
cidences, between  the  Hebrew  Passover  and  the  Lord's 
Supper  do  somewhat  affect  the  practical  appreciation  of 
the  Christian  feast,  and  the  pastor  by  heeding  these,  bet- 
ter understands  the  order  and  significance  of  the  ordi- 
nance which  he  administers. 

(i)  The  slain  lamb,  which  in  the  old  Hebrew  Passover 
was  a  male,  spotless,  and  killed  in  the  evening  ;  the  whole 
of  it  roasted  in  the  fire  at  once,  and  entirely  consumed, 
either  eaten  or  burned.  Yet  no  bone  of  it  was  to  be 
broken  ;  and  its  blood  was  sprinkled  on  the  door-posts 
and  at  the  bottom  of  the  altar,  that  the  wrath  of  God 
might  be  remitted.  "  Christ,  our  passover, "  or 
"  paschal  lamb,"  was  a  spotless  offering.  He  was  slain 
between  the  ninth  and  eleventh  hour,  toward  sunset. 
Body  and  soul  he  entered  entirely  into  the  sharp  fires  of 
suffering  ;  likewise,  not  a  bone  of  him  was  broken,  as  re- 
corded in  John  19  :  36.  This  is  not  an  unimportant 
circumstance.  It  was  not  unimportant  that  Christ's 
seamless  robe  should  have  been  parted  by  lots  among  the 
Roman  soldiers,  that  the  prophecy  might  be  fulfilled. 
The  fact  of  the  atoning  sacrifice  of  Christ  was  a  great 
spiritual  fact,  but  the  proofs  of  it  were  many  of  them 
objective  and  simple.  The  marks  put  upon  the  "  Lamb 
of  God  "  were  intended  not  to  be  misunderstood.  He 
was  singled  out  ages  before  as  the  true  "  paschal  lamb," 
to  be  slain  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  to  be  fed  upon  by 
faith  unto  eternal  life,  to  be  a  perfect  sacrifice  for  the 
whole  world. 

(2)   The    unleavened    bread.       The   old   Passover   was 


'  "  Doctrine  of  Sacrifice,"  p.  66. 


368  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

called  "  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread."  This  signified 
the  haste  in  which  it  was  eaten.  The  "  unleavened 
bread  "  had  also  a  moral  import.  The  jews,  whether 
rightly  or  wrongly,  looked  upon  leaven,  or  the  principle 
of  fermentation,  as  the  law  of  dissolution  and  death. 
They  who  ate  the  Passover  were  called  upon  to  cleanse 
their  hearts  from  sin,  which  was  the  leaven  of  corruption. 
They  searched  the  house  for  leaven  with  candles,  as  if 
they  were  looking  for  a  germ  of  death.  Thus  in  the 
Christian  feast  the  leaven  of  sin  is  to  be  sought  out  and 
destroyed.  "Therefore,"  says  the  apostle,  "let  us 
keep  the  feast  not  with  the  old  leaven,  neither  with  the 
leaven  of  malice  and  of  wickedness  ;  but  with  the  un- 
leavened bread  of  sincerity  and  truth."  It  is  a  feast  of 
holiness.  Every  disorderly  and  false  element  in  the 
Church,  or  in  the  heart  of  the  believer,  as  in  the  ancient 
church  of  Corinth,  is  to  be  sought  out  and  excluded  from 
the  feast. 

(3)  The  drinking  of  the  cup.  After  eating  the  lamb 
and  the  bread,  a  cup  of  wine  was  drunk  in  the  old  Pass- 
over. This  was  called  "  the  cup  of  blessing,"  and  was 
the  third  cup  of  the  regular  Passover.  This  cup  in  the 
eucharistic  feast  came  to  signify  the  blood  of  remission  or 
deliverance,  or  blessing  of  pardon  through  atonement  ; 
thus  it  was  a  sacrificial  cup,  but  at  the  same  time  one  of 
joy  and  blessing,  as  the  fruit  of  sacrifice.  So  Paul  says 
of  the  cup,  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it 
not  the  communion  \noivoovia — sharing  of,  union  with) 
of  the  blood  of  Christ?"  This  cup  might  have  also 
blended  a  natural  idea  in  the  old  Passover — of  thanks- 
giving for  all  blessings,  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual,  and 
especially  for  the  fruits  of  the  earth  which  sustain  life. 
Thus,  in  a  note  from  Baur,  quoted  by  Hagenbach,  he 
speaks  of  the  cup  "  as  a  thank-offering  for  the  gifts  of 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    369 

nature  to  which  was  then  added  thanksgiving  for  all 
other  divine  blessings.  The  primitive  Church  had  a  dis- 
tinct conception  of  this  connection  between  the  Lord's 
Supper  and  what  might  be  called  the  natural  aspect  of 
the  Passover."  Christ  is  the  source  of  all  life— is  "  the 
life."  Thanksgiving  for  the  life  which  comes  through 
Christ  is  an  important  element  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ; 
and  we  have  sometimes  thought  that  this  element  was 
too  little  regarded,  and  that  the  feast  was  made  not  a 
feast  but  a  fast,  a  penitential  ceremony  instead  of  a 
blessed  and  life-giving  observance,  pervaded  more  by  the 
thought  of  thankful  joy  than  of  gloomy  heart-searching — 
of  joy,  it  is  true,  chastened  by  the  fact  set  forth  of 
Christ's  death,  but  still  of  joy  and  triumph  at  the  results 
of  that  atoning  death.  It  is  not  thus  altogether  a 
memorial,  or  monumental,  or  sacrificial  feast,  dwelling  on 
the  past,  or  death,  but  a  life-giving,  spiritual,  stimulating 
feast,  calling  to  mind  the  new  life-giving  presence  and 
power  of  Christ.  It  is  the  expression  of  personal  love 
to  Christ  ;  the  thoughts  cluster  about  him  ;  the  social 
feeling  is  awakened  by  the  drawing  of  all  hearts  to  him  ; 
it  is  the  culmination  of  the  act  of  sacred  friendship  of  the 
disciples  to  their  Lord  and  Master. 

(4)  The  standing  posture — this  was  in  our  Saviour's 
day,  it  is  true,  given  up  for  a  reclining  posture,  though 
it  was  the  older  attitude  taken  in  celebrating  the  Pass- 
over— denoting  the  speedy  march  of  God's  ancient  people 
for  the  land  of  their  freedom.  This  should  be  the 
posture  of  the  Christian  mind  while  partaking  of  the 
Lord's  Supper — a  turning  from  worldly  things  and  looking 
forward  to  a  higher  and  a  heavenly  kingdom — the  giving 
up  of  the  worldly  mind,  of  the  selfish  spirit,  and  a  concen- 
trating of  the  soul  by  an  act  of  faith  upon  Christ. 

(5)  The  song  of    praise.      The  old     Passover  was  con- 


37°  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

eluded  by  singing  a  song  of  praise  for  deliverance,  or,  as 
it  was  termed,  the  "  Hallel,"  consisting  of  Psalms  115  to 
118  inclusive.  The  Lord  and  his  disciples  in  like  manner 
finished  their  feast  by  singing,  undoubtedly,  the  whole  or 
a  part  of  these  Psalms.  It  is  well  to  study  these  Psalms  ; 
some  parts  of  them  have  an  affecting  correspondence  to 
the  facts  of  Christ's  life  and  death. 

As  to  the  order  of  events  at  the  institution  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  it  seems  to  have  been  in  this  wise  :   Before  eating 
the  paschal  lamb,  Jesus  rises  from  the  sup- 
Institution  of  ^^  ^^^gj^  ^^^  fggj.  ^f  j^jg  disciples.     While 
the  Lord's      ^,  .  ,      ,  .         .  ,  , 
SuDoer         they   were   eatmg  a  declaration   is    made    of 

Judas's  treachery,  he  going  out  ;  tlien  the 
breaking  and  distributing  of  the  bread  is  ordained. 
After  the  supper  the  cup  is  instituted  ;  and  the  events 
of  the  simple  but  touching  solemnity  seem  properly  closed 
by  the  partaking  or  instituting  of  the  cup.  There  is 
some  controversy  or  doubt  as  to  the  moment  when  Judas 
withdrew,  none  of  the  evangelists  mentioning  the  precise 
time  ;  but  the  facts  and  reasonable  presumption  seem  to 
point  to  his  withdrawing  before  the  actual  institution  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  It  is  certain  that  after  the  question, 
"  Lord,  is  it  I  ?"  and  the  Lord's  reply,  "  Thou  hast 
said,"  the  eucharistic  feast  was  founded.  There  seems 
to  be  even  in  John's  narrative  no  possible  place  for  in- 
serting the  institution  of  the  supper  before  the  with- 
drawal of  Judas.  It  must  be  said,  however,  that  many 
modern  commentators,  among  them  Alford,  are  of  the 
opinion  that  Judas  was  present  at  the  partaking  of  the 
bread  and  the  wine. 

So  far  historically  ;  now  let  us  consider  the  real  import 
and  significance  of  the  feast. 

We  would  regard  the  Lord's  Supper,  for  the  better 
understanding  of  it,  in  three  senses  or  aspects. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    371 

I.   Its  main  object.     2.   Its  secondary  or  collateral  ob- 
ject.     3.   Its  more  general  aspect,  or  design. 

I.  The  main,  or  primary  object  of  the  institution  of 
the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  primary  object  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  in  all  rever- 
ence, we  believe  to  be  this,  that  it  is  a  perpetual  remem- 
brance or  sign  of  Christ's  death  for  sin,  and 
the  actual  reception  of  that  atoning  Saviour  Primary  ob- 

anew  by  faith.     The  Saviour,  in  taking  the    "^  ^    °„ 
/      ^^  '  ^  Lords 

cup,  said  :  "  For  this  is  my  blood  of  the  New  Supper. 
Testament  which  is  shed  for  many  for  the 
remission  of  sins."  The  Lord's  Supper  symbolizes  the 
new  dispensation  of  grace,  dating  from  the  death  of 
Christ  and  flowing  from  it.  It  is  not,  however,  only  a 
bare  sign,  or  symbol  of  the  atonement.  This  truth  of 
the  death  of  Christ  is  not  merely  symbolically  commemo- 
rated in  the  ordinance,  but  it  is,  as  it  were,  received 
anew  by  the  Church  in  the  sacrament — it  is  a  sacrament 
as  well  as  a  sign — a  holy  pledge  of  a  divine  truth  which 
is  appropriated  afresh  by  faith.  In  the  words  of  Nitzsch, 
"  It  presentiates  to  us  a  crucified  and  raised  Lord."  The 
Zwinglian  doctrine  that  the  supper  is  simply  a  memorial 
— that  the  body  and  the  bread  are  present  symbols  typi- 
fying the  absent  body  and  blood  of  Christ — is  true,  in  a 
most  essential  and  important  sense  true,  but  something 
more  than  this  is  also  true,  viz.,  that  in  the  words  of  an 
old  English  creed  :  "  The  outward  and  visible  part,  or 
sign,  is  the  bread  and  wine  which  the  Lord  hath  com- 
manded to  be  received,  and  that  the  thing  signified  is 
the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  which  are  spiritually  taken 
and  received  by  the  faithful  in  the  Lord's  Supper."  In 
a  word,  that  the  body  of  Christ  is  given  and  eaten  in  the 
supper  after  a  spiritual  manner  ;  that  while  it  is  a  sign 


372  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

or  symbol  of  a  great  truth,  it  is  also  that  truth  spiritually 
r^ceived,  when  partaken  of  by  faith. 

2.  The    secondary,  or  collateral  object   of  the  Lord's 
Supper.     The  subordinate  object  of  the  Lord's  Supper 

we  conceive  to  be  this,  that  it  is  a  seal  of  the 
econ  a  y  ^j^j^j-^  ^f  ^|-,g  members  of  the  Christian 
object. 

Church  with  Christ,  their  Head  ;  and,   as  a 

result  of  this,  of  their  union  with  one  another  in  Christ. 
It  is  not  only  therefore  a  sign  of  Christ's  death  for  sin 
and  a  renewed  pledge  of  that  great  life-giving  truth,  but 
also  a  seal  of  union,  or  communion,  among  believers 
themselves  ;  even  as  the  Lord  said  in  the  prayer  that 
followed  the  institution,  "  that  they  all  may  be  one  as 
thou  Father  art  in  me  and  I  in  thee,  that  they  also  may 
be  one  in  us."  Christ  said  also  of  the  cup,  "  Drink  ye 
all  of  it."  We  may  justly  infer  from  such  passages  as 
I  Cor.  lo  :  17  ;  12  :  13,  that  our  Saviour,  in  this  ordinance, 
would  impress  his  new  and  great  command,  that  his  dis- 
ciples should  be  truly  one,  one  in  the  partaking  of  him, 
that  they  should  love  one  another,  as  he  had  loved  them  ; 
that  he,  in  fine,  is  the  ground  and  object  of  their  eternal 
union.  "  The  cup  of  blessing  which  we  bless,  is  it  not 
the  communion  of  the  blood  of  Christ  ?  the  bread  which 
we  break,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  body  of  Christ  ? 
For  we  being  many  are  one  bread,  and  one  body  ;  for  we 
are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread." 

3.  The  more  general   aspect  or  design  of  the  Lord's 
Supper.     This  is,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  it  should 

be    a    means    of  spiritual     nourishment    and 
More  general  growth    to    the  Church  of  Christ.      It  is  an 
aspect  or  .,,..,  •  ..       n  •  ^ 

,    •  ^        essentially  spiritual  or  a  spiritually  nourish- 
ing ordinance.      It   is  this  {a)    through   the 
presence  and  participation  of  Christ  himself  in  and  with 
his  disciples.     The  Lord  said  when  instituting  the  sup- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    373 

per,  "  This  bread  is  my  body,  and  this  wine  is  my  blood." 
He  said  also,  in  another  place  (although  the  passage  does 
not  refer  directly  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  yet  it  would  seem 
indirectly,  and  as  by  a  figure  of  speech,  to  point  to  it,  and 
as  it  were  to  prepare  for  it),  "  He  that  eateth  my  flesh 
and  drinketh  my  blood  dwelleth  in  me  and  I  in  him." 
Such  words  denote  intimate  union  with  and  reception  of 
Christ.  To  those  who  rightly  partake  of  these  elements 
by  faith,  there  is,  as  it  were,  an  impartation  of  the  very 
body  and  life  of  Christ  ;  not,  however,  in  the  Roman 
Catholic  sense  of  the  "  real  presence."  The  Roman 
Church  as  early  as  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  and 
afterward  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  perverted  this  truth 
of  the  presence  of  Christ  by  his  grace  and  spirit,  into  the 
presence,  or  "  presentation"  of  Christ's  body,  literally, 
in  the  bread  and  wine.  The  article  of  Transubstantiation 
in  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  runs  thus  :  "If  any 
man  shall  deny  that  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Most  Holy 
Eucharist  there  are  contained  truly,  really,  and  substan- 
tially the  body  and  blood,  together  with  the  soul  and 
divinity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  shall  say  that 
they  are  in  it  as  a  sign,  or  by  a  figure,  or  virtually  ;  let 
him  be  accursed," 

We  know  how,  gradually,  the  doctrine  of  the  substan- 
tial presence  grew  up  in  the  Romish  Church.  While  we 
utterly  repudiate  this  realistic  conception  which  blasphe- 
mously considers  that,  by  the  word  or  act  of  a  human 
priest,  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into 
the  very  body  and  soul  of  Christ  ;  while  we  interpret  the 
eivai  as  obviously  to  mean  "  signifying"  or  "  setting 
forth,"  according  to  a  very  common  use  of  language, 
especially  in  the  Scriptures,  as  "  God  is  a  rock  ;"  yet  we 
believe  that  we  should  not  neglect,  or  deny,  the  great 
truth  of  the  spiritual  presence  of  Christ  in  the  imparta- 


374  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

tion  of  his  grace  and  Spirit  to  those  true  believers  who 
partake  of  the  feast  rightly.  There  is  vouchsafed  to  such 
a  manifestation  of  present  life  and  comfort  from  Christ, 
even  as  he  suddenly  appeared  in  the  circle  of  his  ancient 
disciples  after  his  resurrection,  when  they  were  assembled 
in  the  upper  chamber. 

Archbishop  Cranmer,  speaking  the  language  of  the 
English  Reformers,  said  :  "  Sometimes  by  the  word  '  sac- 
rament '  I  mean  the  whole  ministration  and  receiving  of 
the  sacraments,  either  of  Baptism  or  the  Lord's  Supper, 
and  so  the  old  writers  many  times  do  say,  that  Christ  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  be  present  in  the  water,  bread,  or  wine, 
which  be  only  the  outward  and  visible  sacraments  ;  but 
that  in  th6  due  ministration  of  the  sacraments  according 
to  Christ's  ordinance  and  institution,  Christ  and  his  Holy 
Spirit  be  truly  and  indeed  present  by  their  mighty  and 
sanctifying  power,  virtue  and  grace,  in  all  them  that 
worthily  receive  the  same."  Some  of  the  other  Re- 
formed churches,  while  they  repudiated  the  gross  Catholic 
dogma,  retained  the  idea  of  Christ's  spiritual  presence  at 
the  Lord's  Supper  in  the  impartation  of  his  grace  and 
truth,  blessing  the  soul  of  the  true  participant.  Thus 
the  Helvetic  Confession,  H.  Art.  21,  is  in  these  words  : 
"  Et  tamen  non  est  absens  ecclcsice  sikb  celcbranti  cocnam 
Dominus,  sol  absens  a  nobis  in  ccclo  nihilo  minus  efficaciter 
prcesens  est  nobis:  quanta  magis  sol  justiticc,  Christus, 
corpore  in  ca^lis  absens  nobis,  prccsens  est  nobis,  non  cor- 
poraliter  quideni,  sed  spiritualitcr  per  vivificavi  operationem, 
et  tit  ipse  se  nobis  pressentem  futuriim  cxposuit  in  idtima 
coena  (John  14  :  16).  Unde  conscqucns  est,  nos  non  habere 
cocnam  sine  Christo,  interim  tamen  eccnavi  incruentam  et 
viysticam,  sicuti  universa  nuncupavit  vctustas."  Calvin 
also  went  considerably  further  than  Zwingli,  who  looked 
upon  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  has  been  already  said,  as  a 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    375 

simple  memorial-festival,  or  a  sign  of  spiritual  truth,  the 
body  and  bread  typifying  the  absent  body  and  blood  of 
Christ  ;  and  he  (Calvin)  attached  greater  importance  to 
the  intimate  union  of  believers  with  Christ  in  the  feast  ; 
he  emphasizes  even  the  bodily  presence,  not  as  having 
entered  into  the  bread,  but  as  communicated  from  above 
by  a  spiritual  and  supernatural  agency,  thus  making  the 
partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper  not  merely  an  act 
memorializing  a  past  event,  but  also  the  true  reception 
of  something  that  is  really  present  and  operative  ;  that  (we 
add  this  idea  here)  as  bread  and  wine,  at  this  moment  in 
Oriental  countries  and  in  Greece,  are  the  two  chief  staples 
or  elements  of  physical  life,  and  thus  emblems  of  spiritual 
life,  as  these  sustain  our  natural  body,  so  we  are  nourished 
and  quickened  spiritually  by  a  true  reception  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ/  Calvin  said,  however — thus  separat- 
ing his  view  from  the  materialistic  "  presence"  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church — "  Cogitemus  prinmin  spirituale 
qiiiddain  esse  sacravicntnin. ' '  "^ 

We  mention  these  things  not  to  propound  any  mystical 
interpretation  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  as  if  the  sacrament 
itself  had  any  intrinsic  value,  as  if  it  were  an  opus 
opcratuni,  upholding  the  idea  of  sacramental  grace — there 
has  been  quite  enough  done  in  that  line — but  to  show  the 
views  of  the  Church,  and  of  illustrious  men,  upon  the 
moral  and  spiritual  import  of  the  ordinance,  that  it  is  not 
a  bare  sign  like  a  tombstone,  but  also  a  means  of  grace, 
of  growth  in  holiness,  of  the  impartation  of  spiritual  life, 
whereby  the  Church  is  nourished  and  built  up  in  its  most 
holy  faith,  by  this   freshly  repeated  pledge   of  Christ's 


'  See  Snider's  "  Walk  in  Hellas." 

-  See  Hagenbach's  "  Doctrines,"  v.  ii.,  p.  31S.     Also  Nitzsch's  "  Chris- 
tian Doctrine,"  pp.  349,  356. 


376  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

spiritual  presence  and  union  with  his  people.  While 
avoiding  false  mysticism  and  superstition,  let  us  cultivate 
this  spiritual  view  of  the  ordinance,  as  far  only,  however, 
as  it  can  be  safely  and  scripturally  done,  and  thus  feel 
that  we  may  gain  a  spiritual  blessing,  and  so  may  our 
people,  by  properly  observing  it  ;  that  its  efficiency  for 
good  depends,  in  a  great  measure,  upon  ourselves,  there- 
fore we  must  give  our  minds  and  hearts  to  it  ;  we  must 
come  to  it  with  penitent  minds,  abjuring  and  denying  all 
kinds  of  sin  ;  we  must  receive  it  in  faith  ;  we  must  open 
the  eye  of  faith  to  see  Christ  really  in  it  ;  we  must  rightly 
discern  the  Lord's  body  and  real  presence, 

{b)  By  the  preaching  through  this  ordinance  of  divine 
truth.  Through  the  most  lively  of  the  senses  the  truth 
of  Christ  is  preached  in  the  Lord's  Supper.  It  instructs 
the  mind,  refreshes  the  memory,  moves  the  heart.  It  is 
a  perpetual  sermon  upon  the  incarnation,  life,  sufferings, 
death,  ascension,  and  exaltation  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  The 
whole  Christ  is  comprised  in  these  emblems.  The  whole 
gospel  is  taught  by  them,  with  its  central  and  its  related 
truths. 

The  comprehensive  power  of  the  Lord's  Supper  in  set- 
ting forth  divine  truth  may  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  it  is 
symbolical,  or  a  visible  sign  of  the  inward  grace,  and  is 
thus  more  impressive  than  words  to  the  imagination  ; 
that  it  is  simple  and  natural,  using  the  universally  known 
elements  of  bread  and  wine  ;  that  it  is  solemn  and  ten- 
der ;  that  it  is  an  essentially  spiritual  feast  as  manifesting 
by  faith  the  broken  body  and  suffering  death  of  the 
Lord  ;  that  it  is  perpetual,  or  to  be  'observed  always  to 
the  end  of  the  world. 

Thus  the  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  rightly  observed  in 
order  to  be  a  means  of  higher  sanctification  ;  and  this  the 
pastor  should  set  forth  in  his  preaching  and  in  his  pre- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP,    y^l 

paratoiy  instructions,  showing  his  people  clearly  what  is  re- 
quired, that  they  should  examine  themselves 

,  -11,        /-i     •  .  '     .    1  1         Pastor's  re- 

m  order  to  come  rightly  to    Christ  s  table,  .,  ...^ 

^       ■'  sponsibility. 

and  in  his  own  spiritual,  believing,  and  de- 
vout participation  of  the  same.  While  he  should  not  fence 
the  table  with  unjustifiable  terrors,  as  is  sometimes  done, 
he  should  strive  to  prevent  by  all  means  possible  a  care- 
less and  wrong  approach  to  the  table.  He  should  clearly 
expound  the  necessity  of  a  spiritual  preparation,  of  true 
repentance  toward  God  and  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  He  should  show  that  we  bring  away  what  we 
carry  to  the  table — life  or  death.  He  should  teach  that  if 
any  brother  have  a  quarrel  with  any  he  should  be  at  peace 
with  his  brother  before  coming  to  the  Lord's  table  ;  he 
should  teach  that  cherished  unforgiveness,  hate,  covet- 
ousness,  pride,  incontinence,  dishonesty,  deceit,  and  any 
and  every  evil  passion  of  the  soul  are  totally  inconsistent 
with  the  partaking  of  this  holy  feast,  and  expose  one  to 
condemnation  ;  while  at  the  same  time  he  should 
encourage  the  weakest  disciple  to  come,  if  he  come  with 
a  sincere  faith  but  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  and  with 
true  love.  Not  those  who  are  perfect  may  come  to  the 
feast,  but  those  who  trust  and  love.  And  as  it  is  an 
external  ordinance,  depending  for  its  efficacy  upon  the  in- 
ternal condition  of  the  recipient,  this  becomes  a  matter 
between  him  and  God,  and  the  pastor  and  the  Church 
should  be  very  careful  in  denying  the  privilege  of  this 
feast  to  any  who  profess  faith  in  Christ,  Even  Judas 
Iscariot,  some  think,  partook  of  it,  under  the  eye  of  the 
Lord.  Undoubtedly  the  ideal  and  scriptural  standard  of 
those  who  should  partake  of  the  Lord's  Supper  is  that 
they  should  be  true  Christians,  and  none  but  such  ought 
to  partake  of  it  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  those  some- 
times who  are  not  true  Christians  should  not  be  excluded 


378  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

from  the  Lord's  Supper,  for  God  only  can  judge  of  the 
heart.  The  Puritan  churches  have  been  undeviatingly 
strict  in  their  assertion  of  the  principle  that  none  but 
credible  members  of  a  true  Church,  or  those  professing  to 
have  met  with  a  renewal  of  heart  through  faith  in  Christ, 
should  come  to  the  Loi-d's  table,  on  the  ground  that  a 
profession  of  faith  offers  the  only  means  of  the  Church's 
judgment  of  the  candidate's  faith.  But  a  spirit  of  charity 
should  be  mingled  with  a  spirit  of  discrimination  and 
firmness  ;  and  there  are  supposable  cases  where  one 
might  be  allowed  to  approach  the  Lord's  table  who  was 
not  even  a  member  of  the  visible  Church  ;  for  all  true 
believers  have  a  right  to  eoine  to  their  Lord's  table  ;  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  Church  and  of  the  pastor,  as  its  repre- 
sentative, to  use  their  best  efforts  and  judgment  (that 
is  all)  to  guard  the  purity  of  the  ordinance. 

The  Cambridge  Platform  gives  us  in  the  main  the  idea 
of  the  conditions,  in  the  New  England  Puritan  churches, 
of  church-membership — both  of  adults  and  children — and 
therefore  in  some  sense  defines  who  shall  come  to  the 
Lord's  table.  It  says  :  "  (i)  The  doors  of  the  churches  of 
Christ  upon  earth  do  not,  by  God's  appointment,  stand  so 
wide  open  that  all  sorts  of  people,  good  or  bad,  may  freely 
enter  therein  at  pleasure  ;  but  such  as  are  admitted  thereto 
as  members  ought  to  be  examined  and  tried  first,  whether 
they  be  fit  and  meet  to  be  received  into  church  society 
or  not.  ...  (2)  The  things  which  are  requisite  to  be 
found  in  all  church-members  are  repentance  from  sin  and 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ  ;  and  therefore  these  are  the  things 
whereof  men  are  to  be  examined  at  their  admission  into 
the  Church,  and  which,  then,  they  must  profess  and  hold 
forth  in  such  sort  as  may  satisfy  rational  charity  that  the 
things  are  there  indeed.  ...  (3)  The  weakest  measure 
of    faith   is    to   be   accepted    in   those   that   desire  to   be 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELA  TIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    379 

admitted  into  the  Church,  because  weak  Christians,  if 
sincere,  have  the  substance  of  that  faith,  repentance,  and 
hoHness  which  is  required  in  church-members,  and  such 
have  most  need  of  the  ordinances  for  their  confirmation 
and  growth  in  grace.  ...  (7)  The  like  trial  is  to  be  re- 
quired from  such  members  of  the  Church  as  were  born  in 
the  same,  or  received  their  membership  and  were  bap- 
tized in  their  infancy  or  minority,  by  virtue  of  the 
covenant  of  their  parents,  when,  being  grown  up  into 
years  of  discretion,  they  shall  desire  to  be  made  partakers 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  otherwise  not  to  be  admitted 
thereunto.  Yet  these  church-members  that  were  so  born 
or  received  in  their  childhood,  before  they  are  capable  of 
being  made  partakers  of  full  communion,  have  many 
privileges  which  others,  not  church-members,  have  not  : 
they  are  in  covenant  with  God,  have  the  seal  thereof 
upon  them — viz.,  baptism  ;  and  so,  if  not  regenerated, 
yet  are  in  a  more  hopeful  way  of  attaining  regenerating 
grace  and  all  the  spiritual  blessings  both  of  the  covenant 
and  the  seal.  They  are  also  under  church  watch,  and 
consequently  subject  to  the  reprehensions,  admonitions, 
and  censures  thereof  for  their  healing  and  amendment,  as 
need  shall  require."     (Cap.  XII.  1648.) 

In  regard  to  the  mode  of  administering  the  rite,  the 
Lord's  Supper  should  be  administered  in  a  public  man- 
ner ;  not  too  frequently  and  not  too  rarely — 

the  Scottish  plan  of  but  twice  a  year  tends,      .  .  ^    ^. 

^  •'  _  ministration. 

we  think,  to  make  of  it  a  superstitious  rite  — 
while  the  Lutheran  Church,  celebrating  it  every  Sunday 
morning,  makes  it  perhaps  too  common.  It  should  be 
administered  with  affectionate  tenderness  ;  as  calling  to 
mind  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  and  yet  with  simplicity  and 
freedom,  and  a  spirit  of  cheerfulness,  not  sadly  but 
gladly,   hopefully,  as  bringing  Christ,   the  divine   friend 


3So  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  lover  of  the  soul,  freshly  to  view,  as  a  risen  and 
spiritually  present  Christ,  who  is  always  with  his  people 
even  to  the  end  of  the  world,  thus  awakening  gratitude, 
love,  devotion,  fresh  consecration  ;  strengthening  the 
believing  participant  for  trial  and  duty,  fitting  him 
for  a  more  self-sacrificing  service  of  the  Master  and  a 
more  perfect  conquest  of  the  world,  filling  him  with  the 
joys  of  a  heavenly  faith,  and  quickening  him  in  all  the 
springs  of  life.  Early  Christian  art  shows  this  hopeful 
character  of  the  primitive  faith  and  of  its  sacred  ordi- 
nances, especially  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  eleventh  century  that  the  gloomy  religious  idea 
came  in. 

Although  from  ancient  and  scriptural  precedent  the 
ordained  pastor  of  the  Church  is  the  regular  adminis- 
trator of  this  ordinance,  yet,  under  certain  circumstances, 
it  may  be  administered  by  a  layman,  and  has  been  even 
by  women — we  might  suppose  a  case  of  one  partaking  of 
it  entirely  alone  and  enjoying  the  true  presence  of  the 
Lord  in  it,  although  it  is  essentially  a  Church  ordinance 
— a  public  service — the  communion  of  souls  in  Christ.' 

The    liturgies    which    have    sprung    up    around    this 


'The  Bryennios  MS.  gives  these  instructions:  "And  concerning  the 
Eucharist,  give  thanks  in  this  way,  first  concerning  the  cup  :  We  thank 
Thee,  our  Father,  for  the  holy  vine  of  Thy  child  David  which  Thou  hast 
made  known  to  us  through  Thy  child  Jesus  :  to  Thee  be  glory  forever. 
And  concerning  the  broken  bread  :  We  thank  Thee,  our  Father,  for  the 
life  and  knowledge  which  Thou  hast  made  known  to  us  through  Thy 
child  Jesus  :  to  Thee  be  glory  forever.  As  this  broken  bread  was  scat- 
tered upon  the  mountains,  and  was  gathered  together  into  Thy  kingdom 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  ;  for  Thine  is  the  glory  and  the  power  through 
Jesus  Christ  forever.  But  let  no  one  eat  or  drink  of  your  Eucharist,  ex- 
cept those  who  have  been  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  ;  for,  indeed, 
in  regard  to  this  the  Lord  said  :  Give  not  that  which  is  holy  to  the 
dogs." 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    381 

eucharistic    feast,    although,    without    a    question    post- 

apostoHc,  and  thus  not  obligatory   upon   the 

1  r     1        ^1         1  11  Liturgies, 

observance  of  the  Church,   are  nevertheless 

some  of  them  extremely  ancient,  and  very  interesting 
and  worthy  of  study.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  gives  a 
description  of  the  closing  eucharistic  prayer,  which, 
doubtless,  in  the  earliest  times,  was  an  extempo- 
raneous one  ;  and  which,  though  it  shows  the  be- 
ginnings of  errors,  yet  preserves  and  expresses  the 
thankful,  expansive,  devotional  character  of  this  feast  : 
"  Then  after  the  spiritual  sacrifice  is  perfected,  the  blood- 
less service  upon  that  sacrifice  of  propitiation,  we  entreat 
God  for  the  common  peace  of  the  Church,  for  the  tran- 
quillity of  the  world  ;  for  kings,  for  soldiers,  and  allies  ; 
for  the  sick,  for  the  afflicted  ;  and  in  a  word  for  all  who 
stand  in  need  of  succor,  we  all  supplicate  and  offer  this 
sacrifice.  Then  we  commemorate  also  those  who  have 
fallen  asleep  before  us  ;  first,  patriarchs,  prophets, 
apostles,  martyrs,  that  at  their  prayers  and  intervention 
God  would  receive  our  petition.  Afterward,  also,  on  be- 
half of  the  holy  fathers  and  bishops  who  have  fallen 
asleep  before  us  ;  and,  in  a  word,  of  all  who  in  past 
years  have  fallen  asleep  among  us,  believing  that  it  will 
be  a  great  advantage  to  the  souls  for  whom  the  supplica- 
tion is  put  up,  while  the  holy  and  most  awful  sacrifice  is 
presented,"  In  the  liturgical  form  given  in  the  so- 
called  "Apostolical  Constitutions,"  the  presbyter,  or 
presiding  minister,  on  presenting  the  bread,  says  to  the 
communicant,  "  The  Body  of  Christ,"  who  answers, 
"  Amen."  On  giving  the  cup  the  minister  says,  "  The 
Blood  of  Christ,  the  Cup  of  Life  ;"  the  communicant 
answers  "  Amen."  In  one  of  the  earliest  liturgies,  called 
that  of  St.  James,  the  priest  breaks  the  bread  and  puts  a 
piece  into  the  cup,  and  says,  "  The  union  of  the  most 


382  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

holy  body  and  precious  blood  of  our  Lord  God  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  ;"  and  afterward,  "  Taste  and  see 
how  gracious  the  Lord  is,  who  is  broken  and  not  divided  ; 
is  given  to  the  faithful  and  not  consumed  ;  for  the  re- 
mission of  sins  and  for  everlasting  life,  now  and  ever,  to 
eternal  ages."  And  the  priest,  before  communicating, 
says,  "  O  Lord  our  God,  the  Bread  that  came  down  from 
heaven  is  the  Life  of  the  world.  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven  and  before  thee,  and  am  not  worthy  to  partake 
of  the  immaculate  mysteries.  But,  O  merciful  God,  do 
thou  make  me  worthy  by  thy  grace,  that  I  may  receive 
thy  holy  body  and  precious  blood,  not  to  my  condemna- 
tion, but  for  the  remission  of  sins  and  eternal  life."  ' 

Yet  it  is  better  to  follow  the  teachings  of  Scripture  in 
the  celebration  of  this  ordinance,  and  to  make  it  as 
simple  and  natural  and  spiritual  as  it  was  in  its  original 
institution.  But  neither  apostolic  nor  early  ecclesiastical 
precedent  leads  us  to  suppose  that  there  was  much,  if 
aught,  of  the  didactic  or  even  hortatory  element  in  the 
primitive  service.  It  was  a  pure  act  of  worship,  devotion, 
and  communion  ;  and  the  modern  practice  of  interpolat- 
ing its  simple  and  affecting  stages  with  human  words  is, 
to  our  view  (except  in  rare  cases),  an  unhappy  innovation. 
The  rite  is  most  impressive  in  itself  ;  and  why  ?  It  is 
because  it  is  not  man  who  offers  these  emblems  to  us, 
but  it  is  Christ,  the  divine  Master  and  Giver  of  the  feast. 


Sec.  2 1 .   Marriage  and  Burial. 


^\ 


Marriage,  as  a  divine  institution,  dates  back  to  the 
creation  of  the  race,  and  is  a  fact  of  revelation.  The 
union  of  the  sexes,  as  established  and  blessed  by  God,  is 


'  Brett's  Coll.  of  Lits.  (1720). 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  IVOR  SHIP.    383 

declared  to  be  needful  to  the  complete  perfection  of  the 

life  of  the  race,  both  physically  and  spiritually, 

since    man    is    incomplete    without    woman 

^  service. 

and  the  woman  without  the  man  ;  and  in  the 
marriage  of  the  two  the  Saviour  pronounced  them  (Matt. 
19  :  6)  to  be  "  one."  This  is  the  divine  law  ;  for  mar- 
riage is  regarded  in  the  Scriptures  as  a  holy  relationship 
in  which  two  persons  become  virtually  one,  but  in 
which  neither  personal  freedom  nor  selfhood  is  de- 
stroyed ;  it  is  established  and  strengthened.  It  presup- 
poses a  common  associate  life,  wherein,  while  the  in- 
dividuality of  each  is  respected,  and  there  is  perfect 
equality  in  regard  to  honor  and  dignity,  yet  there  is  a 
mutual  surrender  of  will,  so  that  there  may  be  true  har- 
mony in  all  the  great  objects  of  living,  for  the  best  good 
of  all  concerned,  and  for  the  praise  of  God.  Of  course 
the  only  root  of  such  a  perfect  harmony  and  union  of 
spirit  must  be  in  religion — in  Christian  faith.  Marriage, 
therefore,  if  not  a  sacrament,  as  the  Roman  Catholics  re- 
gard it,  and  as  it  very  soon  came  to  be  esteemed  in  the 
early  Church — the  rite  being  accompanied  with  the 
celebration  of  the  Lord's  Supper — yet  it  is  a  religious  in- 
stitution, and  forms  a  pure  type  of  the  relationship  of 
Christ  to  his  Church. 

The  marriage  ceremony  should  be  a  Christian  act — an 
act  of  worship — in  which  God's  hand  of  mercy  is  gratefully 
acknowledged,  a  united  consecration  to  his  service  made, 
and  the  divine  Spirit  invoked,  in  order  that  he  may  cause 
those  who  are  entering  into  the  married  state  to  be 
sensible  of  the  nature  of  their  vows,  that  those  vows  may 
be  made  in  faith,  and  that  their  love  may  be  a  spiritual 
and  sanctified  affection.  It  is  an  occasion  where  religion 
lends  a  glory  to  this  human  life  ;  and  where  every  word 
should  aid  the  sacred  character  of  a  scene  in  whose  pure 


384  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  joyful  festivities  the  Lord  himself  might  vouchsafe  to 
grant,  as  he  once  did,  his  blessed  presence.  Since 
marriage  is  so  enduring  a  relationship,  it  behooves  the 
pastor,  especially  in  these  days  when  the  marriage  bond 
is  loosely  held  and  the  law  of  divorce  is  a  system  of 
legalized  immorality,  to  be  extremely  careful,  and  per- 
fectly well  prepared  in  the  part  he  assumes  in  it.  Even 
in  minor  matters  relating  to  his  portion  of  the  solemn 
transaction,  he  should  be  sure  that  all  proper  require- 
ments are  fulfilled  ;  and  if  he  has  any  reason  to  suspect 
that  there  is  anything  in  the  history  or  circumstances  of 
either  party  which  is  wrong  and  irregular,  or  which 
would  invalidate  a  true  Christian  marriage,  or  even  ren- 
der it  an  unhappy  and  unfortunate  one,  he  should 
courteously  decline  performing  the  ceremony  ;  for  by 
performing  it  he  may  be  the  means  of  inflicting  a  lasting 
wrong  and  injury.  The  true  idea  or  intent  of  marriage 
is  in  the  willing  consent  of  the  parties,  from  a  sincere 
motive  to  promote  the  true  ends  of  the  family  relation- 
ship ;  and  therefore  the  pastor  should  not  give  the 
Church's  sanction,  nor  speak  the  divine  benediction, 
upon  a  marriage  between  unfit  parties,  or  under  false 
pretences  of  any  kind.  He  should  be  able  to  speak  with 
sincerity  the  solemn  words,  "  Whom  God  hath  joined 
together  let  no  man  put  asunder." 

The  Burial  Service  naturally  differs  in  its  form  among 
different  churches.      In  some  parishes  in  New  England  a 
long    and    elaborate    funeral   address    is    ex- 
pected   from    the    minister  ;    and     in    other 
service.       ^ 

places,  simply   a  prayer  at   the  residence  is 

required.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  the 
devotional  and  not  the  didactic  element  should  pre- 
dominate  at   such   a   time;   for   burial    is  an   act  of  true 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  PUBLIC  WORSHIP.    385 

worship — of  the  humble  praise  of  God  for  his  power  over 
and  presence  in  death  ;  and  also  of  his  manifestation  in 
Christ,  as  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life.  Death  is  itself 
the  preacher.  If  one  attempts  an  extended  address,  or 
anything  like  a  deliberate  and  minute  analysis  of  char- 
acter, he  will  probably  fail  ;  for  if,  indeed,  God's  voice 
in  death,  if  the  silent  expression  of  the  life  and  character 
of  the  departed,  do  not  reach  the  living,  the  voice  of  the 
human  preacher  will  not  do  so. 

A  few  appropriate  extracts  from  the  Scriptures,  and  a 
simple,  feeling  prayer,  with  the  singing  of  a  hymn  and  a 
benediction  at  the  grave,  prefaced,  if  the  deceased  has 
been  a  true  Christian,  with  a  word  expressive  of  the  hope 
of  the  glorious  resurrection  of  the  just,  are,  we  think,  all 
that  is  generally  needed,  at  least  in  an  unliturgical  service, 
and  all  that  is  best  for  a  proper  Christian  burial.  Vinet 
says  ("  Pastoral  Theology,"  p.  185),  '\Now,  it  is  the  pas- 
tor who  renders  religion  visible  ;  and  seeing  the  progress 
which  the  mind  has  made,  if  the  pastor  be  here  wanting, 
some  one  will  take  his  place,  and  make  his  absence  more 
manifest,  to  the  great  disadvantage  of  his  character.  I 
would  have  the  minister  never  absent,  either  from  the 
house  of  death  or  from  the  cemetery.  In  many  houses 
the  pastor  offers  prayer  before  going  out  ;  but  this  will 
not  suffice  ;  he  ought  to  attend  the  burial,  and  there 
should  be  another  service,  either  at  the  open  tomb  or  in 
the  church.  Some  words  from  the  Bible,  and  a  prayer 
besides,  are  in  all  cases  sufficient. "  If,  indeed,  remarks 
are  made  at  the  funeral,  they  should  be  simple,  devo- 
tional, leading  the  thoughts  to  dwell  on  immortality,  and 
upon  Him  who  is  the  Giver  of  immortality.  In  referring 
to  the  deceased  person,  they  should  not  attempt  detailed 
characterization,  especially  if  the  character  is  not  such  as 
might  be  commended  and  imitated  ;  and,  above  all,  no 


3S6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

allusion  should  be  made  to  the  faults  of  the  deceased  ;  for 
such  remarks  would  but  pain  the  hearts  of  friends,  and 
do  good  to  no  one.  Let  us  trust  to  the  reflections  of  ra- 
tional beings  at  such  a  time,  and  to  the  power  of  God's 
presence,  and  of  the  realization  of  eternal  things  in  death, 
rather  than  to  anything  we  can  say. 

Sometimes  a  pastor  is  called  upon  to  preach  a  formal 
funeral  sermon  where  the  deceased  has  been  a  person  of 
eminent  piety  or  of  distinguished  public  character.  In 
such  a  sermon  inordinate  or  indiscriminate  praise  should 
be  avoided,  and  one  had  better  keep  inside  than  outside 
of  the  truth.  The  discourse  should  have,  in  any  case,  a 
predominating  religious  tone,  not  being  confined  wholly 
to  personal  biography  or  description,  which  should  be 
brief  and  truthful  ;  and  in  case  the  deceased  were  a  true 
believer,  the  whole  service  should  be  filled  with  the  spirit 
of  praise  and  hope,  instead  of  sorrow  ;  for  it  is  well  to 
let  the  world  know  that  the  death  of  the  Christian  is 
"  gain  ;"  that  the  woe  is  past,  the  shadows  have  fled 
away,  the  life  has  come,  and  the  joy  of  the  Lord  has 
risen  upon  the  soul.  "  For  if  the  dead  did  die  in  the 
Lord,  then  there  is  joy  to  him,  and  it  is  an  ill  expression 
of  our  affection  and  our  charity  to  weep  uncomfortably 
at  a  change  that  hath  carried  our  friend  to  a  state,  of 
huge  felicity.  Nevertheless,  something  is  to  be  given  to 
custom,  to  fame,  to  nature,  and  to  the  honor  of  deceased 
friends.  I  am  not  desirous  to  have  a  dry  funeral  ;  some 
flowers  sprinkled  over  my  grave  would  do  well  and 
comely  ;  and  a  soft  shower  to  turn  those  flowers  into 
springing  memory  or  a  fair  rehearsal.'" 


^  Jeremy  Taylor's"  Holy  Living  and  Dying." 


PART  FIFTH. 

THE  PASTOR  IN   HIS  CARE  OF 
SOULS. 


Sec.  22.    Qualifications  for  the  Care  of  Souls. 

We  return  to  our  original  idea,  that  the  pastor  is  emi- 
nently an  earthly  representative  of  Christ,  who  is  the 
Great  Shepherd  of  souls.  A  small  flock  is  assigned  to  him. 
It  is  not,  or  should  not  be,  too  large  for  his  proper  care  of 
every  member  of  it  ;  for  he  is  not  merely  a  preacher  to 
the  "  great  congregation,"  and  an  ofificer  of  the  Church, 
but  he  is  the  personal  guide  and  overseer  of  every 
individual  soul  of  his  people,  "  taking  heed  to  the  flock 
over  which  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  made  us  overseers." 

As  a  shepherd  keeps  his  eye  on  every  sheep  of  the 
flock,  so  he  "  watches  for  souls  as  he  that  must  give 
account."  All  characters  of  men,  and  all  stages  of  re- 
ligious development,  are  comprehended  in  one  pastoral 
care  ;  and  how  is  the  pastor  to  know  these  differences, 
and  to  minister  to  them,  unless,  as  the  Saviour  says  of 
himself,  "  he  searches  them  out"  ? 

The  apostle  Paul  was  a  settled  pastor  for  three  years,  and 
he  speaks  of  his  pastoral  work  in  this  way  :  "  He  ceased 
not  to  warn  every  one  of  them  night  and  day  with  tears. " 
In  these  words  a  great  responsibility  of  the  pastor  is  indi- 


388  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

cated — viz.,  that  he  should  be  acquainted  with  the  special 
wants  of  all  the  souls  committed  to  his  charge.  There 
are  many  who  love  to  preach,  and  find  in  preaching  a 
pleasurable  excitement  and  a  sense  of  power  in  exerting 
influence  on  others,  who  still  find  the  pastoral  work 
irksome.  Interest  in  strictly  pastoral  labors  is,  we  fear, 
on  the  decline  ;  yet,  however  this  may  be,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  main  usefulness  of  a  minister  of  Christ 
lies  in  pastoral  labors  ;  and  although  at  first  this  may  be 
the  most  tedious,  and,  for  that  reason,  the  most  laborious 
part,  it  grows  to  be,  with  many  pastors,  the  most  useful 
and  attractive  department  of  the  ministerial  work.  In- 
deed, it  is  the  testimony  of  every  experienced  minister 
that  few,  if  any,  become  members  of  the  Church  who  are 
not  thus  personally  visited  and  cared  for.  A  minister's 
influence  with  his  people  should  be  one  of  mutual  confi- 
dence, not  one  of  authority  on  his  part  and  of  subser- 
viency on  theirs.  It  must  be  a  personal  contact  and  re- 
lationship, a  communication  of  direct  influence  brought 
about  by  a  life  of  kindly  and  devoted  intercourse  with  the 
people,  so  that,  in  some  faint  degree,  it  may  be  said  of 
the  under-shepherd,  as  it  was  said  of  Christ  himself,  "  I 
know  my  sheep,  and  am  known  of  mine."  "  My  sheep 
hear  my  voice,  and  they  follow  me." 

Many  a  man  who  is  not  a  great  preacher  has  accom- 
plished more  by  his  strictly  pastoral  labors  than  another 
man  has  done  by  brilliant  and  profound  preaching  ;.  and 
this  is  not  derogating  from  the  first  place  which  preach- 
ing holds.  Our  Lord  (Matt.  4  :  23)  "  went  about"  do- 
ing good,  healing  the  sick,  and  teaching  men  wherever 
he  could  find  them  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God. 
Vinet  says  :  "  Public  preaching  is  comparatively  easy  and 
agreeable  ;  only  then  can  we  be  sure  of  our  vocation  to 
the   ministry,  when^.we   are    inwardly    drawn    and    con- 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  389 

strained  to  the  exercise  of  the  care  of  souls."  lie  says 
also  that  "  preaching  to  the  pastoral  work  is  as  a  part  to 
the  whole."  The  German  writer  Harms  thought  that 
preaching  was  the  least  important  part  of  the  pastoral 
office,  and,  in  some  respects,  that  which  might  be  spared 
with  the  least  disadvantage  ;  although  we  cannot  agree 
with  that,  yet  when  a  minister  declares  that  he  is  not  able 
to  make  pastoral  visits  because  his  pulpit  labors  are  so 
great,  then  it  would  seem  as  if  his  heart  were  getting  cold  ; 
he  has  either  too  large  a  parish,  or  he  makes  too  much  of 
his  pulpit.  Pastoral  labors  have  also  a  great  and  benefi- 
cent influence  upon  preaching — it  gives  a  personal  position 
and  a  practical  aim.  Preaching,  to  be  eminently  success- 
ful, should  be  followed  up  by  personal  conversation,  as 
Christ  followed  his  healing  of  the  blind  and  sick  by  kindly 
inquiry  and  searching,  direct  instruction  ;  for  the  great 
aim  of  a  minister  is  not  to  preach,  but  to  save  men  from 
their  sins,  and  build  them  up  in  holy  living — not  sermons, 
but  men,  women,  and  children. 

It  has  been  recommended  to  a  young  man  to  make  his 
first  settlement  in  a  small  parish — though  as  to  place  and 
parish  if  a  man  have  not  the  spirit  of  self-seeking  the 
right  place  will  be  fitted  for  him  and  he  for  it — for 
either  he  will  be  unfaithful  to  all  the  duties  of  a  large 
parish,  or  he  will  soon  break  down  under  his  labors  ;  and 
it  is  assuredly  a  scriptural  principle  to  begin  at  the  lowest 
place  ;  for,  if  one  is  worthy,  he  will  be  called  up  higher, 
or  he  will  make  a  small  place  a  large  place  and  cause  it  to 
yield  a  hundredfold. 

There  is  a  fearful  want  or  waste  of  ministerial  power 
somewhere.  There  is  a  laying  out  for  greater  things  than 
the  actual  returns  show.  There  is  a  long  and  studious 
preparation  and  small  fruits  in  the  actual  work  of  the 
ministry.      There      is     great     science    and      little    skill. 


390  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Simpler  men  with  simpler  means  have  accomplished 
more.  One  reason  of  this  failure,  doubtless,  is  that 
ministers  are  too  ambitious  for  great  things,  for  striking 
results,  and  do  not  take  pains  enough  with  the  details  of 
their  work  ;  they  do  not  find  out  and  minister  to  the 
real  wants  of  their  people.  They  do  not  strip  off  their 
classical  armor,  and  come  down  into  close  and  familiar 
contact  with  the  feelings,  characters,  anxieties,  sorrows, 
and  sins  of  their  flock.  They  are  not,  in  fact,  good  pas- 
tors. It  is  the  good  pastor  who  knits  himself  to  the 
hearts  of  his  people.  Tt  is  the  man  who,  like  the 
apostle,  goes  from  house  to  house,  and  heart  to  heart, 
and  does  this  year  in  and  year  out. 

We  would,  therefore,    say,   as  a  general  remark,    that 

an   indispensable   requisite  of  a  successful  pastorate   is, 

that    the   pastor  should    become    really  ac- 

Individual     quainted    with    every    one    of    his    people. 

acquaintance  r^^^^  ^^^^    ^^   ^^   ^   matter   of   course, 

with  the  ■' 

people.       t)ut   is  by  no  means  so,  especially   in   large 

city  congregations.  In  order  to  effect  this 
result,  the  pastor  should  make  a  careful  and  particular 
study  of  his  parish.  That  is  his  assigned  field,  and  he 
should  know  it  thoroughly,  if  he  knows  nothing  out  of 
it.  He  should  have  more  than  a  general  and  superficial 
acquaintance  with  his  flock.  He  should  know  his  people 
individually,  and  then  he  will  know  them  collectively. 
He  can  best  reach  and  influence  the  mass  through  in- 
dividual men.  He  should  penetrate  beneath  an  outside 
knowledge  of  his  people,  and  should  strive  to  learn  some- 
thing of  their  varieties  of  character,  their  peculiarities  of 
disposition,  their  mental  maladies  and  speculative 
opinions,  as  well  as  their  external  history  and  circum- 
stances 

There  is   a  remarkable  passage  quoted   in  Coleman's 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  391 

"Antiquities"  (pp.  171,  172)  from  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
which  shows  that  this  necessity  was  early  appreciated  in 
the  Churcli.  "  Man,"  this  father  says,  "is  so  various 
and  uncertain  a  creature,  that  it  requires  great  art  and 
skill  to  manage  him.  For  the  tempers  of  men's  minds 
differ  more  than  the  features  and  lineaments  of  their 
bodies  ;  and,  as  all  meats  and  medicines  are  not  proper 
for  all  bodies,  so  neither  is  the  same  treatment  and  dis- 
cipline proper  for  all  souls.  Some  are  best  moved  by 
won^s,  others  by  examples  ;  some  are  of  a  dull  and 
heavy  temper,  and  so  have  need  of  the  spur  to  stimulate 
them  ;  others  that  are  brisk  and  fiery,  have  more  need  of 
tlie  curb  to  restrain  them.  Praise  works  best  upon  some 
and  reproof  upon  others,  provided  that  each  of  them  be 
ministered  in  a  suitable  and  seasonable  way  ;  otherwise 
they  do  more  harm  than  good.  Some  men  are  drawn  by 
gentle  exhortations  to  their  duty  ;  others,  by  rebukes 
and  hard  words,  must  be  driven  to  it.  And  even  in  this 
business  of  reproof,  some  men  are  affected  most  with 
open  rebukes,  others  with  private.  For  some  men  never 
regard  a  secret  reproof,  who  yet  are  easily  corrected,  if 
chastised  in  public  ;  others  again  cannot  bear  a  public 
disgrace,  but  grow  either  morose  or  impatient  and  im- 
placable under  it,  who,  perhaps,  would  have  hearkened 
to  a  secret  admonition,  and  repaid  their  monitor  with 
their  concession,  as  presuming  him  to  have  accosted  them 
out  of  mere  pity  and  love.  Some  men  are  to  be  so 
nicely  watched  and  observed,  that  not  the  least  of  their 
faults  are  to  be  dissembled,  because  they  seek  to  hide 
their  sins  from  men,  and  arrogate  to  themselves  there- 
upon the  praise  of  being  politic  and  crafty  ;  in  others  it 
is  better  to  wink  at  some  faults,  so  that  seeing  we  will 
not  see,  and  hearing  we  will  not  hear,  lest  by  too 
frequent  chidings  we  bring  them  to  despair,  and  so  make 


392  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

them  cast  off  modesty,  and  grow  bolder  in  their  sins. 
To  some  m'en  we  must  put  on  an  angry  countenance,  and 
seem  to  deplore  their  condition,  and  to  despair  of  them 
as  lost  and  pitiable  wretches,  when  their  nature  so  re- 
quires it  ;  others  again  must  be  treated  with  meekness 
and  humility,  and  be  recovered  to  a  better  hope  and 
encouraging  prospects.  Some  men  must  be  always  con- 
quered and  never  yielded  to  ;  while  to  others  it  will  be 
better  to  concede  a  little.  For  all  men's  distempers  are 
not  to  be  cured  in  the  same  way  ;  but  proper  medicines 
are  to  be  applied,  as  the  matter  itself,  or  occasion,  or  the 
temper  of  the  patient  will  allow.  And  this  is  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  pastoral  office,  to  know  how  to  dis- 
tinguish these  things  nicely,  with  an  exact  judgment,  and 
with  as  exact  a  hand  to  administer  suitable  remedies  .to 
every  distemper.  It  is  a  masterpiece  of  art,  which  is  not 
to  be  attained  but  by  good  observation,  joined  with  ex- 
perience and  practice."  In  connection  with  this  passage 
we  quote  the  following  one  in  the  same  vein  from  Bax- 
ter :  "  Our  taking  heed  to  all  the  flock  necessarily  sup- 
poses that  we  should  know  every  person  that  belongs  to 
our  charge  ;  for  how  can  we  take  heed  to  them  if  we  do 
not  know  them  ?  We  must  labor  to  be  acquainted  as 
fully  as  we  can,  not  only  with  the  persons,  but  with  the 
state  of  our  people  ;  their  lives  and  conversations  ;  what 
are  the  sins  they  are  most  in  danger  of  ;  what  duties 
they  neglect,  both  with  respect  to  the  matter  and  the 
manner  ;  and  to  what  temptations  they  are  peculiarly 
liable.  If  we  know  not  the  temperament  or  the  disease, 
we  are  likely  to  prove  unsuccessful  physicians." 

This  pastoral  skill  is  something  different  from  a 
Shakespeare's  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  ;  it  is 
something  which  must  be  given  a  man  from  above  ;  it  is 
a  spiritual  insight,  a  knowledge  of  the  soul  and  its  wants, 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  393 

that  is  communicated  only  by  the  Spirit  that  scarchcth 
the  deep  things  of  God  and  man.  Tliis  constant  and 
close  study  of  the  people  is  the  pastor's  out-door  study, 
no  less  important  than  his  in-door  study — no  less  absorb- 
ing and  grand. 

The  preaching  on  the  "  Lord's  day"  may  be  con- 
sidered to  be  the  common  food  ;  it  is  giving  the  bread  of 
life  to  all,  and  is  needed  by  all  equally  ;  but  the  pastoral 
work  is  a  more  careful  distribution  of  truth  to  each  soul 
according  to  its  peculiar  necessities.  It  is  not  the 
pleasantest  part  of  the  physician's  work  to  search  into 
the  causes  of  disease,  but  this  must  be  done  ;  and  it  is 
needful  sometimes  to  use  the  probe  or  the  knife.  The 
pastor  should  take  up  this  work  with  firmness,  patience, 
and  skill. 

A  form  of  objection,  sometimes  made  to  the  strictly 
pastoral  vv^ork,  is  spoken  of  by  Vinet.  It  is  this  :  that  a 
pastor  supposes  that  he  is  not  personally  acceptable,  and 
cannot  make  himself  so  to  his  people.  "  This  is  possi- 
ble," Vinet  says  ;  "  but  be  careful  that  you  say  this  in 
good  earnest.  Do  not  say  it  after  a  first  and  indolent 
effort.  Why,  do  you_  expect  doors  to  open  themselves 
to  you  at  your  mere  approach  ?  We  are  in  general  too 
hasty  in  saying  that  we  are  not  acceptable.  There  are 
many  more  ways  of  access  than  we  suppose,  because 
there  are  more  necessities,  more  accessible  sides,  more 
occasions  than  we  think  of.  Our  ministry  is  not  so  sure 
to  be  repelled  when  it  exhibits  itself  under  the  form  of 
Christian  affection."  There  may  be  also  secret  pride  in 
a  young  man's  taking  this  view  of  things  ;  but  a  minister 
must  give  up  his  pride  to  be  a  faithful  pastor  of  men's 
souls.  He  must  think  less  of  his  dignity  and  more  of 
his  work.  Good  missionaries  have  crept  into  filthy 
Hottentot  kraals  to  reach  and  instruct  men.     We  are  first 


394  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

of  all  to  save  men,  and,  second,  to  preach  eloquent  ser- 
mons. 

"  Were  I  again  to  be  a  parish  minister,"  said 
Leighton,  "  I  would  follow  sinners  to  their  homes,  and 
even  to  their  ale-houses. "  Doddridge  wrote  on  his  re- 
turn from  an  ordination,  "  I  have  many  cares  and 
troubles  ;  may  God  forgive  me  that  I  am  so  apt  to  for- 
get those  of  the  pastoral  of^ce  !  I  now  resolve  to  take  a 
more  particular  account  of  the  souls  committed  to  my 
care  ;  to  visit  as  soon  as  possible  the  whole  congregation, 
to  learn  more  particularly  the  circumstances  of  them, 
their  children  and  servants  ;  to  make  as  exact  a  list  as  I 
can  of  those  that  I  have  reason  to  believe  are  uncon- 
verted, awakened,  converted,  fit  for  communion,  or 
already  in  it  ;  to  visit  and  talk  with  my  people  when  I 
hear  anything  in  particular  relating  to  their  religious 
state  ;  to  be  especially  careful  to  visit  the  sick  ;  to  begin 
immediately  with  the  inspection  of  those  under  my  own 
roof,  that  I  may  with  the  greater  freedom  urge  other 
families  to  like  care.  Oh,  my  soul,  thy  account  is 
great  !" 

The  example  of  Dr.  Chalmers  is  thus  given  :  "  Not 
satisfied  with  merely  proclaiming  the  doctrines  of  the 
gospel  from  the  pulpit  on  the  Sabbath,  not  satisfied  even 
with  putting  into  that  presentation  all  the  energy  of  his 
regal  intellect,  and  the  enthusiasm  of  his  affectionate 
heart,  gathering  about  the  truth  all  ornaments  of  scholar- 
ship, and  impressing  it  by  appeals  most  clear  and 
pointed,  as  by  arguments  whose  weight  and  pressure 
have  rarely  been  surpassed — he  labored  also  to  carry  it 
familiarly  from  house  to  house  throughout  the  week. 
He  interested  himself  personally  and  warmly  in  the 
families  of  his  parish.  He  knew  the  children  and  the 
aged,  as  well  as  the  active  of  middle  life.      He  knew  the 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  395 

circumstances,  characteristics,  history  of  many  of  his 
people.  And  he  was  always  ready  with  his  word  of 
counsel,  his  suggestive,  practical,  or  doctrinal  instruc- 
tion, his  free  presentation  of  Christ,  and  his  fitness  to  the 
soul.  He  aimed  and  desired  to  have  his  speech  distil  as 
the  dew,  in  the  constant  day-to-day  intercourse  of  life. 
He  meant  to  speak  to  his  people  through  his  example  as 
his  words  ;  and  whenever  a  case  occurred  of  special  diffi- 
culty, requiring  peculiar  tact  and  skill  in  its  management, 
it  was  affecting  to  see  with  what  earnestness  of  thought 
and  what  fervor  of  prayer  this  noble  and  shining  mind 
devoted  itself  to  the  work  of  enlightening  the  ignorant, 
or  of  cheering  the  downcast,  or  of  impressing  and 
awakening  the  long  impenitent." 

But  to  bring  this  matter  to  a  point,  we  would  mention 
some  of  the  needful  qualifications  for  the  pastoral  care  of 
souls,  without  dwelling  upon  them. 

(i)    Self-knowledge.     This    is   such    a    knowledge    of 

human  nature  as  one  gets  from  a  knowledge  of  his  own 

heart — its    doubts,    strug^gles,    fears,    wants, 

.  Self- 
temptations,  sins,  sources  of  higher  strength  ,         ,  ^ 
^                 '           '                               fc.                    t>  knowledge. 

and  life  ;  and  for  that  purpose  let  the  pastor 
thoughtfully  note  his  own  spiritual  experience  to  guide 
him  in  the  care  of  souls  ;   for,  "  as  in  water  face  answereth 
to  face,  so  the  heart  of  man  to  man." 

.A.n  3.ttr3.ctivG 

(2)  An  attractive  and  friendly  manner. 

^   '  ■'  manner. 

(3)  Adaptation.     The  pastor  should  strive 

to  have  a  word  in  season  for  every  situation  and  con- 
dition   in  which    he    may  happen    to    find    a    ,  . 

■'         ^^  .  Adaptation, 

family  or  a  soul.      He  should   adapt  himself 

to  the  man,  the  character,  the  time,  place,  and  occa- 
sion. "  Though  I  be  free  from  all  men,  yet  have  I 
made  myself  servant  unto  all,  that  I  might  save  the 
more.       Unto   the    Jews    I    became    as    a   Jew,  that    I 


396  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

might  gain  the  Jews  ;  to  them  that  are  under  the  law, 
as  under  the  law,  that  I  might  gain  them  that  are 
under  the  law.  To  the  Weak  became  I  weak,  that  I 
might  gain  the  weak  ;  I  made  myself  all  things  to  all 
men  that  I  might  by  all  means  save  some.  And  this  I 
do  for  the  Gospel's  sake,  that  I  might  be  a  partaker 
thereof  with  you."  (i  Cor.  9  :  19-23.)  A  Christian 
minister  should  never  allow  himself  to  be  thrown  off  his 
balance  by  a  sudden  assault  made  upon  him.  He  should 
take  his  people  on  their  own  ground,  and  lead  them 
gradually  and  easily,  without  jar,  up  to  his  own  standard. 
He  should  understand  the  peculiarities  in  the  circum- 
stances and  history  of  his  own  parish,  not  attacking 
deep-rooted  prejudices  with  hasty  zeal,  but  patiently 
guiding  and  instructing  his  people.  He  should  study 
men  by  classes  as  well  as  by  individuals,  and  he  cannot, 
on  the  other  hand,  do  this  better  than  by  studying  in- 
dividual men  ;  for,  as  it  has  been  said,  "  he  who  knows 
one  man  thoroughly,  knows  a  whole  class."  If  the 
people  gain  the  impression  that  the  pastor  understands 
them,  they  will  the  more  readily  give  him  their  confi- 
dence, and  regard  his  counsel. 

(4)  A  particularizing  and  systematic  method.      George 
Herbert  said,  "  If  the  parson  comes  to  be  afraid  of  par- 
ticularizing in  those  things,  he  were  not  fit  to 

System.  ,,  . 

be  a  parson.        This  particular  attention  to 

detail  is  an  element  of  success  in  any  great  enterprise  ;  it 

is  not  treating  the  people  in  the  gross,  but  in  the  grain  ; 

it  is  knowing  their  names,  histories,  characters,  families, 

places    of   business.        There    is,    indeed,    much    of    the 

genuine  business  talent  required  in  the  pastor's  business  ; 

for  it  is  a  business,  a  work.      The  apostle   writes,  "  If  a 

man  desireth  the  office  of  a  bishop,  he  desireth  a  good 

work."     Bengel,   commenting  on  this  passage,  calls  the 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  397 

ministerial  office  ''  ncgofiiim,  non  otinin."  It  must  be 
entered  upon  and  carried  along  with  the  same  earnest 
spirit,  the  same  minute  attention  to  particulars,  the  same 
thoughtful  adaptation  of  means  to  ends,  as  those  by 
which  any -important  secular  business  is  carried  on  and 
rendered  successful.  In  the  pastoral  work,  as  in  any 
other,  effects  will  not  be  reached  unless  essential  prelimi- 
naries are  properly  attended  to  and  secured. 

(5)  Personal  influence  outside  of  purely  ministerial  in^^ 

fluence.      As  a  man  is  a  man  before  he  is  a  minister  he 

should  have  the  manly  qualities  of  truthful- 

,  .     .  .  ,  Personal  in- 

ness,      kmdness,    generosity,     and     courage. 

These  should  be  transformed,  sanctified,  and 
devoted  to  a  higher  praise  than  self-reputation.  It 
must  be  seen  that  the  minister  is  one  who  is  through 
and  through  a  genuine  man.  This  power  of  personally 
attaching  men  to  himself,  especially  the  young,  makes  a 
pastor  potent  with  his  people.  An  enthusiasm  for  the 
pastor  as  a  man  ;  as  a  desirable  companion  ;  as  one  who 
knows  something,  and  can  do  something,  and  can  say 
something,  besides  preaching  ;  as  a  genial,  wholesome, 
attractive,  magnetic  man  ;  as  a  magnanimous  and  heroic 
man,  who  is  capable  of  generous  deeds — this  is  a  vast 
help.  Professor  Park,  in  an  article  upon  the  late  Dr. 
Clark,  speaking  of  his  free  and  pleasant  intercourse  with 
men,  quotes  the  saying  of  Martin  Luther  :  "As  life  can- 
not pass  without  society,  it  becomes  thee  to  believe  that 
thou  pleasest  God  when  thou  speakest  to  thy  brother 
with  a  jocund  countenance,  when  thou  invitest  him  to 
pleasantry  by  a  cheery  laugh,  and  when  thou  some- 
times delightest  him  with  a  facetious  and  shrewd  j 
remark." 

This  genial  and  magnetic  talent,  when  not  carried  to  a 
false  extreme,  unlocks  hearts,  and  wins  their  confidence. 


398  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

One  may  preach  the  gospel  by  his  looks  and  smile  and 
hearty  hand-grasp,  as  well  as  by  words. 

(6)  A  true,  absorbing  love  of  men's  souls.     The  word 
"  soul  "  is  so  familiar  a  one  that  we  sometimes  lose  sight 

of  what  it  is  and  of  what  it  means  in 
Love  of  souls,  the    Scriptures,    and    there     is  also    a   great 

deal  of  false  theorizing,  and  false  science 
respecting  it.  It  is  regarded  by  some  as  a  mere 
function  of  the  body,  as  conscious  thought  resulting 
from  the  vibrations  of  the  brain-fibre  and  the  action  and 
changes  of  molecular  matter — taking  the  effect  for  the 
cause.  But  the  scriptural  view  of  the  soul  does  not  re- 
gard it  as  a  product  of  the  correlation  of  physical  forces, 
nor  of  any  possible  combination  of  matter — neither  does 
it  coincide  with  the  Platonic  theory  of  the  pre-existence 
of  the  soul,  or  its  emanation  from  God's  essential 
spiritual  essence,  to  be  absorbed  again  into  the  divine 
substance.  It  looks  upon  the  soul  as  a  creation  and  child 
of  God,  as  an  immediate  product  of  his  hand,  and  as  com- 
prising the  whole  spiritual  nature  of  man,  not  including 
the  corporeal.  Its  great  quality,  according  to  Scripture,  is 
rational  and  moral  life,  made  in  the  image  of  God.  It 
has  the  same  indestructible  quality  of  life  which  belongs 
to  the  divine  being,  and  that  lifts  the  soul  above  every- 
thing that  comes  to  an  end  ;  and  this  also  is  free, 
rational,  and  moral  life,  such  as  expresses  itself  in  char- 
acter, in  religion,  in  the  house,  the  book,  the  school,  the 
state,  the  Church — that  shows  its  superiority  everywhere 
to  mere  matter,  defying  the  elements,  overcoming  afflic- 
tion, equal  to  martyrdom,  representing  mind,  affection, 
conscience— the  seat  and  the  glory  of  the  human  race. 
The  soul's  only  portion,  as  given  us  in  the  Scriptures, 
is  God  himself,  and  nothing  beneath  him,  becoming 
through    faith,   obedience,   and    love  a  partaker    of    the 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  399 

divane  nature.  The  soul  is  further  honored  and  glorified 
in  the  Scriptures  by  Christ's  assuming  it  and  dying  for 
it.  But  this  soul,  it  is  also  represented,  which  is  made 
for  God,  may  depart  from  him  and  become  lost.  "  To 
lose  his  -own  soul  "  is  possible  for  a  man,  according  to 
the  Scriptures.  What  this  death  of  the  soul  is,  we 
may  not  indeed  be  able  to  know  or  even  conceive,  or 
what  it  is  in  addition  to  the  loss  of  all  that  might  have 
been  in  the  love  and  fellowship  of  God.  Now,  to  have 
the  true,  absorbing  love  of  souls,  the  pastor  must  be 
one  who  has  in  some  sense  experienced  that  misery 
and  sin  out  of  which  the  lost  soul  is  to  be  saved  ;  and 
also  to  have  had  some  true  if  even  faint  expression  of 
that  holiness  into  which  it  is  brought  by  the  renewing 
grace  of  Christ.  It  is  by  the  unbelief,  the  half-faith,  the 
superficial  knowledge  of  ministers  in  spiritual  things,  that 
souls  are  neglected  and  destroyed.  In  this  way  it 
comes  about  that  there  is  no  deathless  impulse,  like 
Christ's,  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  is  lost.  This 
"  passion  for  souls"  is  the  love  of  that  which  is  best,  the 
immortal  jewel,  in  the  nature  ;  and  that  love  may  be  and 
should  be  without  the  slightest  shadow  of  dissimulation. 
It  is  a  sincere  yearning  and  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of 
every  soul  comprised  in  the  pastoral  charge.  It  is  a  love 
which  will  bear  almost  any  strain  put  upon  it,  any  injus- 
tice, coldness,  coarseness,  or  insult.  When  one  has  a 
determination,  springing  from  love,  and  wrought  in 
prayer,  to  save  a  soul,  and  every  soul  of  his  people,  he  will 
not  be  repulsed  by  unkindness,  nor  by  manifest  aversion 
and  hostility.  He  takes  Jesus  as  his  example  of  long- 
suffering  patience,  whose  own  brethren  received  him  not, 
and  yet  whose  love  was  perfect  toward  all.  He  knows 
that  sin  and  selfishness  may  so  entirely  rule  a  heart,  and 
destroy  what  is  good   and  noble  in  it,  that  it  is  really  in- 


400  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

capable  of  regarding  God's  truth,  or  his  messenger,  with 
common  respect.  Love  has  pity.  Depend  upon  it, 
love  reigns  in  the  pastoral  office.  One  can  do  nothing 
for  souls  without  it.  By  it  the  sheep  of  the  flock  are  led 
along.  It  comprehends  all  other  things  and  qualifica- 
tions ;  it  hopeth  all  things  ;  it  endureth  all  things  ;  it 
believeth  all  things  ;  it  might  reverently  be  added,  it 
accomplishes  all  things.  The  best  gift  of  God  to  the 
pastor  is  the  power  of  loving.  Is  it  indeed  enough  to 
preach  and  to  labor  without  knowing  or  caring  whether 
one  be  successful  or  not  in  saving  men's  souls  ?  Nothing 
less  than  success  can  satisfy  the  true  minister  of  Christ. 
It  is  in  this  that  he  is  a  co-worker  with  God  and  with 
Christ.  Himself  "  called  of  God  "  he  calls  others.  God 
reconciles  him  to  himself,  and  he  preaches  to  others  the 
blessed  gospel  of  reconciliation.  McCheyne  said  to  a 
brother  minister,  "  Have  first  yourself  a  saved  soul. 
Cultivate  a  close  fellowship  with  God."  Bishop  Hall 
declares  that  the  reason  ministers  are  weak  in  their  pul- 
pits is  because  they  are  weak  in  their  closets.  Such  a 
thing  as  the  salvation  of  men  comes  not  forth  except- 
ing through  prayer  and  fasting.  He  who  walks  close 
to  God,  out  of  him  "  will  flow  streams  of  living  writers." 
(7)  An  earnest,  hopeful,  and  courageous  faith.  Such 
passages    as    Deut.    31:6;     Josh,  i  :  7,  9  ;     Ps.  31  :  24  ; 

I  Pet.  1:13;  Acts  20  :  22-24  ;  2  Cor.  4:1, 
ourageous  g  ^^^    useful    and    inspiring.      "  A    man 

faith.  '    ^'  .  , 

may  possibly  meet  with  some  formal  min- 
ister that  knows  little  of  Christ,  and  loves  him  less, 
who  yet  can  tell  such  an  inquirer  that  by  believing  he 
shall  find  Him,  and  instruct  him  somewhat  about  the 
notion  of  faith,  and  inseparable  repentance,  and  leaving 
off  sin,  which  things  he  himself  who  directs  makes  no  use 
of,  hath  no  experience  at  all  of  ;  yet  may  his  information 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  401 

be  useful  to  the  soul  seeking  Christ,  and  in  following 
them  it  may  find  Him."  '  But  if  the  guide  be  a  man  of 
ardent  faith,  who  believes  that  the  truth  of  Christ  is  "  the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation,"  how  much  better,  surer  a 
guide  !  .The  earnestness  of  the  apostles  and  first  pastors 
was  one,  in  Luther's  phrase,  "  from  the  bottom  of  the 
heart."  The  believing  man  was  behind  what  he  spoke. 
He  was  not  a  mere  brazen  trumpet  for  the  breath  of  God 
to  fill.  He  was  himself  a  living  power,  made  so  by  the 
spirit  of  Christ,  that  inspired  his  own  faculties  in  con- 
tact with  the  divine  and  infinite.  Thus  Christ  exalts  and 
purifies  a  man  when  he  chooses  him  to  do  his  work.  He 
does  not  reduce  him  to  something  less  than  a  man  ;  but 
he  frees  and  fills  with  a  divine  potency  every  human  power 
and  affection.  Whenever  that  exquisite  adjustment  takes 
place,  of  the  man's  own  spirit  and  life  to  the  spirit  and 
truth  of  what  he  teaches,  he  is  recognized  by  men  as  a 
true  pastor  of  souls.  Now,  although  a  peculiar  prepara- 
tion is  needed  for  this  care  of  souls,  it  is  a  common  error 
to  think  that  it  is  entirely,  or  almost  entirely,  an  intel- 
lectual preparation  ;  whereas  it  is,  above  all,  a  spiritual 
preparation.  As  it  is  Christ's  work,  he  alone  can  and 
must  fit  a  man  for  it  ;  for  neither  Augustine,  nor  Tur- 
retin,  any  more  than  Plato  or  Hegel,  nor  any  human  in- 
structor, can  fit  a  man  to  win  souls.  The  Holy  Spirit  is 
the  entire  seminary  of  these  divine  germs  of  power  and 
success  in  the  pastoral  work.  Christ  must  breathe  upon 
his  disciples,  and  endue  them  with  power.  George  Her- 
bert says,  "  The  greatest  and  hardest  preparation  is 
within."  It  is  a  mind  that  lays  itself  at  the  foot  of  the 
cross,  and  cries,  "  Cleanse  Thou  me  from  secret  faults  ! 
I  would  not  be  paralyzed  in  my  efforts  to  win  souls  by 


'  Archbishop  Leighton's  "  Lectures  on  St.  Matthew's  Gospel." 


402  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  love  of  any  evil  thing  whatsoever  ;  but  I  would  yield 
myself  up  to  thee,  O  divine  Master,  to  use  and  shape  me 
as  thou  wilt."  It  is  this  humble  and  self-abnegating 
state  that  makes  a  man  receptive  of  higher  power  ;  and 
then  God  flows  in  by  the  influence  of  his  Spirit,  and  fills 
the  man  with  power.  Then  the  tongue  of  flame  descends 
upon  him  ;  then  men  recognize  him  as  a  divine  messen- 
ger ;  then  he  will  speak  to  the  dying  soul  of  the  risen 
Redeemer  with  words  of  faith  and  power  ;  then  he  will 
be  the  means  of  kindling  in  dark  spirits  the  immortal 
hope  of  Christ.  They  will  awake  to  his  earnest  en- 
treaties, and  the  Holy  Spirit  will  use  him  as  a  powerful 
instrument  to  apply  to  their  hearts  the  renewing  Word, 
One  man  is  the  preordained  instrument  of  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  another.  The  electric  current  runs  from  heart 
to  heart.  The  disciple  who  brought  his  friend  to  Jesus 
was  the  appointed  means  of  eternal  good  to  the  soul  of 
his  friend,  and  of  winning  it  to  God. 


Sec.  23.  Pastoral  Visiting. 

The  family  may  be  said  to  be  as  truly  a  divine  institu- 
tion as  the  Church  ;  and  the  Church  itself  is  but  an  ex- 
tension of  the  family  idea.  The  Christian  Church  is  a 
larger  household,  a  wider  brotherhood,  a  perpetually 
expanding  body  of  families  united  in  Christ,  the  Head. 

The  pastor  is  peculiarly  a  leader  of  families — "  a  leader 
of  flocks."  God  himself,  in  the  Psalms,  is  thus  repre- 
sented as  a  Shepherd,  who  "leads  Joseph  (Joseph's 
household)  as  a  flock." 

It  is  good  for  the  pastor  to  view  his  people  in  this 
family  light,  especially  in  its  relations  to  the  duty  of 
pastoral  visitation  ;  he  should  know  his  people  in  their 
own  homes,  where  their  true  character  shows  itself  ;  he 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  403 

should  appreciate  the  strength  and  depth  of  family  ties 
and  sympathies  ;  and  he  should  understand  and  use 
them  for  good. 

What  is  the  true  idea  of  a  pastoral  visit  ? 

A  well-known  ecclesiastical  writer    thus  describes  it  : 

"  The  visiting  to  which  I  refer  is  a  very  different  thing. 

In  urging   the   duty  of   pastoral  visitation,  I 

would  suggest  that  a  minister  should  devote  "^ 

1  •  r    1  •         •  11  e  pastoral 

a   large   portion   of   his   time  to   the  duty  01  .  .^ 

°      ^  •'  visit. 

private  conversation,  with  every  member  of 
his  congregation,  on  the  subject  of  personal  religion.  In 
visiting  a  family  for  this  purpose,  I  suppose  he  should 
endeavor  to  converse  with  every  individual  separately  ; 
or,  if  this  be  not  possible,  that  he  should  set  before  them 
all  the  duty  of  repentance  and  faith  in  Christ,  and,  if 
there  be  no  special  obstacle,  that  he  should  close  the 
interview  with  prayer.  Of  course  there  should  be 
nothing  stiff,  formal,  severe,  or  forbidding.  The 
minister  is  doing  nothing  but  what  his  relation  to  his 
hearers  absolutely  requires.  They  have  chosen  him  to 
take  the  care  of  their  souls,  and  use  every  means  in  his 
power  to  save  them  from  eternal  death.  They  believe 
in  the  truths  which  he  preaches,  or  they  would  not  have 
chosen  him  to  be  their  minister.  If  his  labors  on  the 
Sabbath  have  been  ineffectual,  it  is  certainly  reasonable 
that  he  should  see  them  in  private,  and  press  upon  them 
individually  the  truths  which  they  have  thus  far  neg- 
lected." 

We  would  suggest,  as  an  amendment  to  this  good 
advice — good,  perhaps,  if  it  could  be  carried  out — that 
the  pastoral  visit  should  not  be  expected,  as  a  rule,  to  be 
a  strictly  religious  visit  ;  that  there  should  be  no  rule  in 
regard  to  it  which  could  not  be  departed  from  ;  for  if 
there  were,  it  would  become  a  form,  and  lose  its  power 


404  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

for  good.  All  spontaneity  would  be  taken  out  of  it,  and 
it  might  come  to  such  a  pass  that  many  people  would 
avoid  their  minister  when  he  visited  them,  or  if  they 
should  see  him,  they  would  shut  up  their  hearts  to  him, 
and  not  appear  in  their  true  character.  It  is  said  that 
when  the  famous  Dr.  Emmons  made  a  pastoral  visit,  his 
form,  looming  up  at  a  distance  in  the  village,  created  an 
immense  sensation,  the  best  clothes  were  donned,  the 
children's  faces  washed,  and  the  children's  hearts  nearly 
paralyzed  with  consternation  ;  the  catechism,  however, 
brought  them  to  their  senses  like  the  application  of 
caustic  to  a  raw  wound.  But  it  is  certainly  good  sense 
if  nothing  more  to  say  that  the  visit  of  a  minister,  like 
that  of  any  other  man,  should  be,  first  of  all,  of  a  friendly 
and  social  nature. 

While  we  do  not  think  that  preaching,  technically 
speaking,  should  be  done  in  a  pastoral  visit,  yet  it  must 
be  said  that  this  is  not  a  visit  of  mere  ordinary  etiquette 
or  friendship  ;  it  is  the  visit  of  the  appointed  guide  of 
the  souls  of  a  family  ;  and  though  it  caimot  always,  from 
obvious  circumstances,  assume  a  definitely  religious  char- 
acter, and  ought  never  to  be  made  in  a  perfunctor}/  spirit 
as  if  it  were  the  discharge  of  an  official  obligation,  it 
should,  nevertheless,  be  recognized  and  felt  to  be  the 
visit  of  the  pastor,  i.e.,  of  him  who  is  the  spiritual  guide 
of  the  famil)^  When  this  is  generally  and  clearly  under- 
stood, the  visit  will  naturally  have  a  certain  character 
and  aim  ;  and  then  the  family  will  be  more  likely  to  aid 
in  making  the  visit  one  of  profit  to  themselves.  Pastoral 
visiting,  to  a  mere  student,  is  often  a  cross,  requiring 
effort  and  a  special  purpose.  It  is  certainly  to  effect 
something  ;  it  is  to  aid  one  in  his  ministry.  The  old- 
fashioned  idea  of  a  pastoral  visit  was  that  it  was  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  pastor's  duty,  that  it  should   be  statedly 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  405 

made  and  formally  religious,  beginning  with  personal 
conversation  upon  religious  matters  and  always  ending 
with  prayer.  We  would  not  disparage  this  earnest  view. 
Some  excellent  men  still  hold  it.  A  Western  minister 
noted  for  his  pastoral  success  told  the  writer  that  he  had 
never  made  a  visit  upon  any  of  his  people  without  pray- 
ing with  them.  He  had  also  managed  never  to  offend. 
In  the  case  of  the  sick  he  always  acted  upon  the 
physician's  advice  and  with  his  consent.  He  pos- 
sessed, it  must  be  said,  exquisite  tact.  But  every  man 
could  not  do  the  same.  Prayer  cannot  be  introduced 
like  drawing  a  pistol.  It  is  not  always  appropriate. 
The  time,  the  occasion,  the  mental  condition  of  the 
parties  interested  are  to  be  consulted  ;  but,  it  may  also 
be  said  that  some  men  so  live  and  breathe  a  life  of 
prayer  that  it  never  is  an  ungracious  or  ungraceful  act 
for  them  to  pray.  They  best  express  their  own  religious 
spirit  in  direct  communion  with  Him  from  whom  they 
draw  their  deepest  thinking  and  their  truest  life  ;  and 
through  the  medium  of  prayer,  like  a  subtle  and  in- 
visible conductor,  they  are  best  able  to  reach  and  touch 
the  minds  of  others. 

Let  us  now  look  at  some  of  the  uses  of  pastoral  visit- 
ing. 

I.    To  bring  the  truth   to   bear   upon   the   soul  of  in- 
dividual men.      Truth  from  the  pulpit   depends   for  suc- 
cess upon  the  receptivity  of  the  hearer's  own  Uses  of  pas- 
mind,  and  this    is    generally    uncertain   and  toral  visita- 
precarious  ;  a  wind  of  temptation,  a  breath         ^io"* 
of  worldly  influence,  may  dissipate  in  a  moment  the  good 
impression    of     the     truth  ;  but     private      conversation, 
pressed    home    with    the    earnestness    of    a    strong    and 
affectionate  will,  serves  to  fix    truth  ;  for  the  impelling 
power  of  another  nature  is  added  to  the  impressibility  of 


4o6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  hearer's  own  mind.  If,  therefore,  truth  has  been 
sown  by  the  pulpit,  it  will  be  found  that  pastoral  con- 
versation has  been  the  great  human  agency  of  nourishing 
the  seed  sown.  Ministers  are  sometimes  surprised  that 
their  labored  preaching  is  not  more  effective  ;  it  may  be 
ineffectual  because  they  do  not  follow  it  up  with  per- 
sonal instruction.  They  leave  the  birds  of  the  air  to 
catch  up  and  devour  the  seed,  or  the  cares  of  the  world 
to  choke  it  ;  what  different  result  can  they  expect  ? 
The  care  of  a  wounded  limb  is  great,  but  a  wounded 
spirit  is  how  much  more  a  subject  of  unwearied  and 
tender  attention.  Great  wisdom  is  certainly  required  to 
give  the  truth  its  personal  application  in  conversation 
with  families  and  individuals.  The  simple  repetition 
sometimes  of  a  significant  text  of  Scripture,  when  it  is  a 
word  in  season,  is  powerful  for  good.  It  is  well  to  store 
up  such  inspiring  and  strengthening  texts,  to  leave  as 
gifts,  with  a  few  words  of  comment  and  application,  in 
the  houses  of  the  people.  The  scriptural  figure  is  the 
best  as  well  as  most  beautiful  of  sowing  the  truth,  drop- 
ping it  in  every  place,  in  every  heart  ;  and  even  if  some 
seed  fails  to  take  root,  and  perishes,  was  not  that  the 
case  with  the  Great  Sower  himself  ? 

2.  To  win  the  confidence  of  the  people.  When  the 
minister  is  seen  only  in  the  pulpit  on  Sunday,  he  is  still 
a  stranger,  and  his  voice  is  the  voice  of  a  stranger  ;  he 
ma)'-  be  admired  and  respected,  but  he  cannot  be  loved, 
for  there  must  be  something  more  intimate  and  personal 
in  the  relation  to  make  it  a  strong  one.  By  visiting  his 
people  in  their  own  houses,  and  entering  into  their  hopes, 
sorrows,  and  joys,  rejoicing  with  those  that  rejoice,  and 
weeping  with  those  that  weep,  the  pastor  becomes  a  man 
who  is  sincerely  trusted  and  loved.  Each  begins  to  look 
upon  him  as  his  personal  friend.      People  seeing  that  he 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  407 

has  a  sincere  interest  in  them,  that  he  has  no  selfish  end 
to  gain  in  his  intercourse  with  them,  will  begin  to  give 
him  their  confidence.  Norman  McLeod  said,  "  Let  a 
minister  use  every  legitimate  means  to  come  in  contact 
with  every  class,  to  win  them  first  on  common  ground, 
and  from  hence  endeavor  to  bring  them  to  holy  ground." 
The  peojole  should  feel  perfect  freedom  in  going  to  their 
pastor  in  all  their  religious  wants  and  difficulties,  and 
they  will  not  do  this  unless  they  know  him  well. 

3.  To  promote  attendance  upon  public  worship,  and 
attention  to  all  Christian  duties.  "  The  house-going 
parson  makes  the  church-going  people."  Where  the 
pastor  is  seen  and  known  familiarly,  the  people  are 
attracted  to  follow  him  to  the  prayer-meeting  and  the 
house  of  God  ;  for  this,  then,  becomes  a  matter  of  per- 
sonal obligation.  The  father  of  a  family  says,  "If  my 
minister  takes  the  trouble  to  come  and  see  me,  I  will  go 
and  hear  him."  Thus  the  lower  motive  may  lead  to  the 
performing  of  the  higher  duty,  or,  at  least,  may  draw 
men  to  the  place  where  they  may  be  spiritually  benefited  ; 
and  the  pastor  can  also,  by  direct  conversation,  bring 
them  up  to  this  duty. 

A  good  pastor,  too,  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  acquir- 
ing influence,  but  from  the  real  love  of  his  people,  looks 
after  the  good  of  his  flock  in  temporal  matters.  Oberlin 
took  a  measuring  chain  and  spade  in  hand,  and  directed 
in  making  a  road  among  the  mountains,  which  opened 
communication  between  his  obscure  village  and  the  outer 
world,  and  thus  became  a  benefactor  of  his  people  in 
things  they  could  not  deny. 

If  a  pastor  does  not  visit  his  people,  what  can  he  know 
of  their  characters  and  wants,  except  by  hearsay  ?  There 
may  be  persons,  or  families,  starving  in  his  parish,  of 
whom    he    is   totally    ignorant.       The    poor    are    to   be 


4o8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

searched  out,  and  not  merely  to  be  inquired  after. 
There  are  hard,  proud  people  to  be  conciliated,  and  social 
jealousies  to  be  done  away  or  mitigated — men  in  strong 
health  and  the  full  tide  of  worldly  prosperity,  who  think 
little  of  religious  matters,  are  to  be  drawn  to  higher 
thoughts  and  activities.  They  are  to  be  taken  into  con- 
fidence in  enterprises  for  the  public  good,  and  consulted 
before  important  steps  are  taken.  If  thus  interested  in 
schemes  for  employing  idle  men  and  tramps,  preventing 
intemperance,  draining  and  fencing  the  public  common, 
establishing  popular  lectures,  and  so  on,  they  may  be- 
come interested  in  higher  and  better  things.  A  minister, 
too,  who  does  not  continually  go  around  among  his 
people  cannot  know  all  their  moral  wants  and  dangers — 
the  concealed  intemperance,  profligacy,  and  vices  among 
them — the  spread  of  depraving  opinions — the  temptations 
of  youth.  A  minister  should  not  be  a  police  officer,  or  a 
moral  inquisitor,  but  he  should  be  a  true  "  watchman," 
and  should  use  all  proper  diligence  and  vigilance  to 
detect  the  presence  of  evil  in  the  flock  he  is  set  over. 
One  may,  for  example,  properly  ask  and  find  out  about 
the  reading  of  his  people — no  unimportant  source  of  in- 
fluence for  good  or  evil,  and  may  counsel  and  direct  in 
that  matter,  by  the  taste  for  sound  and  healthy  reading 
among  the  young.  He  may  give  practical  hints  in  rela- 
tion to  anything  that  will  tend  to  improve  his  people, 
and  increase  their  comfort  and  happiness.  A  simple 
suggestion  to  a  poor  family  in  regard  to  the  proper  venti- 
lation of  a  house,  or  an  apartment — -the  best  mode  of 
planting  a  field,  or  of  making  a  garden,  or  of  hanging  a 
gate,  is  a  kindness  in  itself,  and  will  build  up  an  influence 
for  good. 

4.   To  obtain  profitable  topics  for  the  pulpit.      Visiting 
and  sermon-writing  or  preaching  should  go  together.      In 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  409 

the  language  of  the  sermon  sometimes  the  very  words 
used  in  conversation  may  be  employed,  which  gives 
point.  A  man  may  preach  fairly  on  admitted  truths  ; 
but  if  it  is  seen  that  his  preaching  has  no  particular  ap- 
plication,to  his  own  people,  and  to  their  needs,  their  in- 
terest in  him,  as  an  instructor  and  guide,  is  gradually 
undermined  ;  but  a  sermon  which  is  inspired  by  a  per- 
sonal conversation,  or  a  pastoral  visit,  has  an  element  of 
life  in  it,  which  is  worth  far  more  than  a  sermon  drawn 
from  books.  It  meets  a  real  want  ;  it  is  a  vital  communi- 
cation from  the  speaker  to  his  hearers.  Springing  up 
within  the  circle  of  the  parish,  out  of  its  needs  and  cir- 
cumstances, it  will  verify  the  words  of  President  Way- 
land,  "  As  the  minister  looks  upon  his  hearers  with  the 
consciousness  that  he  has  before  him  friends  with  whose 
moral  condition  he  is  familiar,  so  they  feel  that  they  are 
looking  upon  a  man  with  whom  they  are  in  full 
sympathy."  ' 

5.  To  give  aim  and  directness  to  prayer.  The  pastor 
who  knows  his  people  will  be  led  to  pray  for  particular 
things  and  for  particular  persons.  He  has  perhaps  ex- 
perienced great  difficulty  and  decided  repulse  in  reaching 
certain  minds  ;  they  are  not  yet  open  to  the  entrance  of 
the  truth  ;  they  are  in  wilful  darkness  ;  his  own  efforts 
to  awaken  and  give  light  are  vain,  and  his  only  help  is  in 
God  ;  he  has  something  to  pray  for  with  all  his  heart  and 
soul,  and  not  to  let  God  go  until  he  grants  his  prayer. 

6.  To  quicken  the  pastor's  spirituality.  The  pastor 
himself  may  be  religiously  benefited  by  pastoral  visita- 
tion ;  and- he  never  can  understand  his  people  spiritually, 
or  be  understood  by  them  without  it.  It  is  said  that  Van 
der  Palm,  of  Holland,  was  deficient  as  a  minister  in  his 


1  "  Ministry  of  the  Gospel,"  p.  153. 


4IO  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ability  to  attend  to  the  duties  of  a  pastor.     He  said,  "  It 
is  not  my  gift — I  never  succeeded  in  it."      His  wide  and 
varied  knowledge  of  science  and  of  men  may  have  gone  a 
little  way  toward  remedying  this  defect,  but  it  diminished 
his  spiritual  power  both  in  and  out  of  the  pulpit,  as  it  will 
any  man's— the  greatest.      The  minister  cannot  afford  to 
lose  its  help.      In  this  nobly  practical  part  of  his  work, 
the    deadening  influence  of  his  official    familiarity    with 
divine  truth  finds  its  counterpoise.      He  is  confirmed  in 
his  belief  that    piety  is  a  real  thing  ;   for  he   is  brought 
daily  face  to  face  with  undeniable  facts,  with  a  primitive 
faith  that  has  endured  trial,  that  has  overcome  dif^culty, 
that  has  been  proved  in  the   furnace  of  affliction.      The 
"  Book  of  Acts"   is  re-enacted   constantly  before   him  in 
the  Hves  of   true   disciples.      He  is  impressed   with  the 
difference,  the  vast  difference,  between  the  believing  and 
the  unbelieving  m.an,  in  circumstances  of  real  trial.      His 
own  faith  is  thus   confirmed.      He   may  know  some   poor 
woman,  who,  from   her  constant  study  of  the  Bible  and 
simple  trust   in  Christ,  has  had  the  lowness  of  her  mind 
and  estate  transformed   into    something  wondrously   re- 
fined and  heavenly  ;  he  may  learn  celestial  wisdom  from 
her  conversation.      Great  originality  of  religious  thought 
is  often  found   in  the  humblest  walks  of  life,  where  the 
Spirit   of   God   has    wrought    upon   an   originally  strong 
nature  ;   where    suns    and    rains   of   divine   influence    fall 
upon  a  rich  soil  and  it  produces  fruit  spontaneously,  and 
rare  fruit  it  is.      Ideas  have  a  natural  vividness  that  seems 
like  a  direct   inspiration  ;  and  indeed  in  such  a  case  the 
mind  is  primarily  taught  by  the  Spirit  and  the  Word  of 
God,  instead  of  secondarily  by  men. 

7.  To  bear  the  ministry  of  the  gospel  to  those  who  are 
not  able  to  attend  the  public  service — to  old  people — to 
confirmed   invalids — to  those  of  peculiar  mental  infirmi- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  411 

ties — all  of  whom  should  have  the  gospel  preached  to 
them. 

8.  To  make  and  keep  a  society  united.  "  To  take  the 
lowest  view  of  the  case,  it  is  the  most  effectual  means  for 
keeping  a-  society  united."'  This  might  be  enlarged 
upon.  Ministers  who  are  not  good  pastors,  wonder  that 
with  all  their  study  and  striving,  their  society  is  ever 
growing  smaller  ;  and  the  cause  of  this  is  often  found  in 
the  fact  that  the  people  are  tired  of  waiting  to  become 
acquainted  with  their  pastor,  and  to  form  some  slight 
bond  of  personal   interest  in  him. 

Some  of  the  disadvantages  connected  with  pastoral 
visiting,  which  are  to  be  guarded  against,  are,  the  sacri- 
fice of  time  ;  the  making  one's  self  subject  to  the  charge 
of  partiality,  let  him  try  his  best  to  avoid  it  ;  the  causing 
of  dissipation  of  mind  and  inability  to  concentrate  the 
thoughts  on  study. 

We  offer  two  or  three  practical  suggestions  in  re- 
gard   to     pastoral    visiting,    although     good 

1-1  •  1     ..        .1  Suggestions 

sense  and  a  little  experience  are  better  than     .    °        ,  ^ 
^  in  regard  to 

advice  upon  such  a  point.  Chaucer  presents  pastoral  visi- 
us  with  a  fit  motto  :  tation. 

"  Wide  was  his  parisli,  and  houses  far  asunder, 
But  he  ne  left  nought,  for  ne  rain  ne  thunder  ; 
In  sickness  and  in  mischief  to  visite 
The  ferrest  in  his  parish,  moche  and  lite 
Upon  his  feet,  and  in  his  hand  a  staff." 

{a)  When  one  becomes  a  settled  pastor,  it  is  indispen- 
sable for  him  to  visit  the  whole  parish,  as  one  of  his  first 
duties.  None  of  the  people  should  be  neglected  in  this 
first  round    of    visits,   which,   if    the    pastor    neglects    to 


'  Wayland's  '•  Ministry  of  the  Gospel,"  p.  148. 


412  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

make,  or  delays  too  long,  he  loses  an  advantage  difficult 
to  be  regained  ;  for  the  ardor  of  first  love,  under  too  long 
neglect,  cools.  "  A  new  comer  to  a  little  place,  and 
especially  a  young  minister,  runs  a  great  risk  of  forming 
friendships  too  suddenly,  which  he  can  only  get  free  from 
very  slowly,  and  rarely  without  unpleasant  circum- 
stances. His  first  opinion  may  come  to  be  very  much 
changed  ;  and  at  times,  people  make  advances  to  him, 
out  of  curiosity  and  with  a  selfish  view,  whom  he  after- 
ward does  not  find  it  easy  to  get  rid  of,  when  he  can 
neither  like  them  nor  trust  them.  It  would,  therefore, 
be  advisable  for  him  to  be  friendly  to  every  one  on  the 
first  visit,  but  not  to  bind  himself  to  any  one  ;  to  be 
frank  and  cordial  with  all,  but  to  keep  his  mind  to  him- 
self ;  what  is  reserved  may  be  afterward  easily  added  ; 
but  what  is  let  out  too  much  cannot  be  so  easily  taken  in 
again."  ' 

{U)  The  pastor  would  do  well  to  make  out  an  accurate 
list  of  his  parish,  with  the  name  and  residence  of  each 
individual.  These  might  be  arranged  systematically,  by 
neighborhoods,  for  greater  convenience  in  visiting  ;  for 
it  is  a  great  economy  of  time  to  take  up  different  sections 
of  the  parish  at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  or  in  having 
some  well-arranged  plan.  The  circumstances  of  a  city  or 
country  settlement  would  of  course  greatly  modify  any 
such  plan.  In  a  word,  this  business  of  visiting  a  par- 
ish should  be  systematized,  or  it  does  not  amount  to 
much.  Irregular  and  occasional  visitation  is  of  little 
benefit.  But  how  it  is  systematized  depends  on  circum- 
stances. One  may  take,  for  instance,  the  houses  in  a 
certain  neighborhood,  in  course,  but  he  should  not  visit 
with  such   rigid   regularity  as  to  give  notice,  as  it  were, 


"  Manse  of  Mastland." 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  413 

of  his  coming  ;  or  it  may  be  an  alphabetical  rather  than 
a  topographical  arrangement.  The  times  and  the  sea- 
sons of  visiting  should  have  some  consideration — not  to 
call  at  meal  times,  or  hurried  times,  or  wrong  times,  but 
with  some  regard  to  the  principle  of  "  inollissima  fandi 
tcmpora.''  In  the  country  one  would  not  call  when  all  the 
men  of  the  family  are  at  work  in  the  field.  As  to  the 
number  of  visits,  two  hundred  households  constitute  a 
pretty  large  country  parish  ;  but  English  clergymen  con- 
trive to  visit  a  parish  of  this  extent  two  or  three  times  a 
year. 

{c)  The  whole  parish  should  be  visited  at  least  once  a 
year  ;  and,  if  the  society  is  a  small  one,  it  may  be  visited 
oftener. 

((^)  A  memorandum  of  every  visit  should  be  kept  ;  and 
this  becomes  an  invaluable  private  journal.  Opportuni- 
ties for  benevolence — special  points  that  have  come  up 
in  conversation — mental  traits  brought  out — the  religious 
condition  of  families  and  individuals — subjects  of  thought 
and  prayer  aroused— these  little  fragmentary  items, 
gathered  here  and  there,  by  and  by  form  a  rich  fund  to 
draw  from. 

{e)  The  sick  should  claim  the  first  attention.  The  sick 
should  not  be  neglected,  even  if  all  the  rest  be  passed  by, 
or  if  other  duties  be  unfulfilled. 

(/")  The  visit  should  not  be  wearisomely  long,  and  it 
should  not  be,  on  the  other  hand,  so  brief  and  hasty  as 
to  have  no  significance,  and  leave  no  impression  save 
that  of  cold  formality.  Where  there  is  the  prospect  of 
doing  good  it  should  not  be  abridged.  Of  course  good 
sense  and  circumstances  should  govern  in  each  case. 

{£)  The  visit  should  have,  as  far  as  it  is  possible,  some 
profitable,  and  better  still,  religious  character.  We  have 
remarked  upon  this,  and   throv/n  out  the  opinion  that  it 


414  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

is  not  best  to  preach  at  such  a  time,  but  rather  to  culti- 
vate a  social  feeling  of  confidence  between  pastor  and 
people  ;  but  the  visit  should  not  be  all  consumed  in  com- 
monplace conversation.  The  great  mass  of  people  are 
eloquent  upon  the  subject  of  their  bodily,  rather  than  of 
their  spiritual  ailments.  On  this  last  subject,  if  it  is  in- 
troduced, the  pastor  must  take  the  initiative  ;  and  he 
must,  above  all,  in  a  matter  like  this,  seek  the  fit  moment 
to  converse  upon  religion.  It  is  not  best  always,  as  has 
been  hinted,  "  to  talk  religion,"  nor  to  drag  every  topic 
into  that  current,  so  that  the  conversation  becomes  un- 
natural and  artificial,  and  in  this  way  often  insincere. 
That  the  proper  time  may  be  chosen  to  talk  to  a  wife  of 
her  domestic  trials — of  her  wayward  son  it  may  be — or 
to  a  business  man  about  his  business  troubles,  or  to  a 
seeker  for  truth  about  his  soul's  welfare,  then  the  prayer 
is  a  good  one  "  That  I  should  know  how  to  speak  a 
word  in  season  to  him  that  is  weary."  Conversations 
like  these  should  take  place  in  private,  when  you  are 
alone  with  a  person,  so  that  the  streams  of  instruction 
as  well  as  heavenly  consolation  may  be  opened  with  pur- 
pose, directness,  and  skill.  See  the  person  with  whom 
you  wish  to  talk  seriously,  alone,  and  do  not  let  the  visit 
be  a  hiatus  between  practical  duties  and  secular  conversa- 
tion in  a  family  circle  ;  for  if  the  religious  conversation 
is  a  formal  thing,  and  seems  to  be  put  on  as  a  matter  of 
necessity,  then  there  will  be  rejoicing  when  it  is  over, 
and  rejoicing  when  the  minister  departs  and  the  visit  is 
ended.  We  wish  to  know  the  real  occupations,  tastes, 
thoughts,  habits,  and  wants  of  the  people^ — we  do  not 
wish  to  see  them  always  under  a  false  aspect.  Yet  we 
should  have  an  aim  in  our  visit  and  in  our  talk.  For 
this  purpose  we  should  get  correct  information  about 
families,  and   perhaps   should   keep   a   record   containing 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  415 

names,  ages,  business,  history,  peculiarities.  We  should 
ask  for  the  children  particularly,  concerning  their  ages, 
character,  schools,  reading,  companions,  recreations.  A 
visit  sometimes  may  be  almost  altogether  taken  up  by 
the  pastor's  leading  questions,  in  order  to  obtain  infor- 
mation of  a  useful  kind.  The  visit,  as  has  been  already 
said,  ought  to  be  made  useful  to  one  in  his  ministry — ■ 
that  is,  its  one  great  aim  is  to  acquaint  one's  self  with  the 
real  needs  of  his  flock  so  as  to  administer  to  these  wants. 
Inquire  into  the  antecedents  of  the  family,  both  secular 
and  religious,  the  parentage,  home-training,  early  pur- 
suits and  occupations,  which  things  are  always  interesting 
to  people  to  talk  about.  This  is  a  clew  often  to  present 
character  and  religious  difficulties.  Ask  who  have  been 
baptized  ?  Is  family  worship  observed  ?  Is  there  a 
Bible  and  are  there  religious  books  in  the  house  ?  Is 
there  attention  upon  the  Sabbath-school,  the  weekly 
prayer-meetings,  and  the  church  Sunday  services  ?  Is 
the  Bible  studied  ?  Is  music  cultivated  ?  Thus  the 
private  visit  and  the  public  ministration  should  inure  to 
each  other's  advantage  ;  therefore,  speak  freely  of  the 
conduct  and  interest  to  be  observed  in  the  worship  of  the 
sanctuary,  of  the  singing,  of  private  and  public  prayer. 
Perhaps  it  may  be  a  heathenish  family  ;  it  is  well  fqr  the 
pastor  in  such  a  case  himself  to  institute  family  worship. 
Observe  those  who  are  religiously  thoughtful,  and  con- 
verse especially  with  them.  Introduce  written  or  printed 
prayers  if  necessary.  But  seek  to  win  confidence  and 
love.  The  pulpit  discourse  will  not  always  do  this — it 
must  be  by  personal  visitation  and  ministration,  and 
free,  natural,  easy  discourse,  showing  interest  in  common 
matters,  in  John,  Mary,  in  Bridget  the  servant,  in  the 
housekeeping,  in  the  trade,  in  educational  matters.  If 
the  pastor  has   the  true   spirit,  he  will   neglect   no   good 


4i6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

opportunity  that  offers  itself  to  improve  his  people  spirit- 
ually, and  a  superior  tact  in  this  will  guide  him.  As  a 
general  rule,  let  the  pastor  strive  to  leave  some  message 
of  God  in  every  house  he  visits,  and,  like  the  Saviour, 
who  sowed  the  seed  wherever  he  went,  be  ever  leading 
the  thoughts  of  those  with  whom  he  talks  from  tem- 
poral to  eternal  themes — from  the  earthly  to  the 
heavenly,  by  imperceptible  ways — let  him  have  this  con- 
stant aim  to  do  good  to  the  minds  of  his  people. 

It  is  well,  even,  to  make  the  modes  or  approaches  to 
religious  conversation  a  subject  of  thought  and  study,  in 
order  to  avoid  every  appearance  of  stiffness,  formality, 
or  cant.  We  may  study  the  good  art  of  not  being 
artificial.  Particular  themes  and  particular  ways  of  ap- 
proaching them  and  presenting  them  in  conversation,  are 
certainly  as  worthy  of  the  serious  reflection  of  the  pastor 
as  are  the  themes  of  the  pulpit. 

But  let  a  young  pastor  know  beforehand,  lest  he  be 
discouraged,  that  he  must  himself  make  the  beginning  in 
religious  conversation,  and  that  he  must  expect  to  say 
nearly  all  that  is  said  ;  indeed,  he  will  find  comparatively 
little  response  to  what  he  says,  even  from  professed 
Christians — not  much  beyond  certain  formal  phrases  and 
commonplaces  ;  and  this  is  not  because  there  is  no 
sincere  feeling,  but  because  people,  generally  speaking, 
are  unable  to  express  their  thoughts  and  discuss  their 
feelings  on  spiritual  themes  ;  therefore  it  is  absolutely 
necessary  that  the  pastor  should  make  leading  remarks, 
and  perhaps  think  beforehand  of  special  topics. 

The  pastor,  who  is  presumed  to  be  an  honorable  man 
and  a  gentleman,  should  show  that  he  is  not  trying  to 
pry  into  the  heart's  secrets  even  of  a  religious  nature  ;  but 
by  honest  conversation  on  the  things  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness,   and    sometimes   by   questions   kindly   put,    he 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  417 

should  seek  to  know  somewhat  of  the  religious  condition 
of  a  household.  Often,  a  plain  word  of  counsel  in  re- 
gard to  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  to  attendance  upon 
the  church  services,  to  carefulness  as  to  the  religious 
instruction  of  children,  faithfulness  to  the  duty  of  family 
worship,  and  of  private  devotion,  the  acknowledgment 
of  God's  unbounded  mercies  in  a  spirit  of  greater  thank- 
fulness and  benevolence — such  a  word  is  healthful. 

As  to  the  old  New  England  fashion  of  ending  the  pas- 
toral visit  with  prayer,  we  have  already  said  that  we  do 
not  see  how  it  can  always  be  carried  out  ;  yet  it  may  be 
done  whenever  it  seems  fit,  and  certainly  whenever  it  is 
requested.  The  pastor  should  strive  to  cultivate  the 
devotional  spirit  among  his  people,  and  to  leave  the 
breath  of  prayer  in  every  house — to  teach  his  people  how 
to  pray.  The  chamber  of  sickness  is  a  fit  place  for 
prayer.  The  favorable  moment  should  be  seized,  when 
the  mind  is  prepared  by  previous  conversation,  and  the 
feelings  seem  to  demand  the  act  of  prayer — for  the  turn- 
ing to  God  for  wisdom  and  aid.  But  prayer  is  the  last 
thing  to  be  obtruded,  or  forced  upon  people.  It  should 
be  a  free  act. 

Admonition  should  not  be  administered,  if  it  is  required 
at  all,  in  the  presence  of  others  ;  neither  should  parents 
be  talked  to  in  reference  to  their  moral  and  spiritual 
duties  in  a  reproving  vein,  before  their  children. 

A  minister,  of  course,  has  a  right  to  have  his  intimate 
friends,  just  as  any  other  man  has,  and  to  visit  some 
families  more  than  others  ;  but  let  all,  rich  and  poor, 
cultivated  and  ignorant,  feel  that  they  have  a  common 
friend  in  their  pastor.  He  must  expect  to  hear  com- 
plaints in  regard  to  his  neglect  of  pastoral  visitation  ; 
some  are  exacting  in  this  respect  ;  but  these  complaints 
will  cease  when    it    is   known  that  he   has  a  true  affection 


41 8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

for  his  people,  and  that  he  means  to  impart  to  them  all, 
without  respect  of  persons,  in  spiritual  things. 

When  there  is  an  especial  call  for  a  pastoral  visit,  let  it 
not  be  delayed  ;  let  everything  else  wait  ;  a  moment 
rightly  used  here,  is  better  than  days  and  weeks  of  atten- 
tion afterward.  And  everything  stimulates  us  to  be 
faithful  to  this  duty.  A  minister  of  great  experience 
says,"  So  far  as  I  have  known  the  events  that  have  led 
to  conversion,  I  have  observed,  especially  of  late,  that  a 
much  larger  number  have  been  led  to  reflection  by 
private  conversation  than  by  any  public  ministration." 
Personal  Christian  effort  to  convert  men  is  needed  ; 
giving  money  and  going  to  church  and  to  prayer-meet- 
ings on  the  part  of  church-members,  and  preaching  on 
the  part  of  ministers,  cannot  take  the  place  of  this,  for 
this  is  using  the  power  that  lies  in  personal  influence  and 
persuasion.  It  is  a  high  gift  and  responsibility,  and 
should  come  into  a  Christian's,  and  especially  a  Christian 
minister's  plan  of  life,  "  holding  forth  the  word  of  life." 

In  conversing  with  very  illiterate,  and  perhaps  degraded 
people,  such  as  are  to  be  found  in  our  large  cities,  and 
almost  nowhere  else,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  talk  to 
them  in  their  own  modes  of  thought  and  language. 
"  Clergymen  and  others  often,  too,  make  a  fearful  mis- 
take by  talking  to  the  poor  in  their  own  language.  Talk 
to  them  kindly,  talk  to  them  as  fellow-men  and  women, 
talk  to  them  with  real  sympathy,  and  you  meet  with 
sympathy  and  respect,  nay  more,  with  real  affection  from 
them  ;  but  lower  yourself  to  their  style  of  language,  and 
they  feel  it  to  be  a  keen  insult  ;  for  they  know  you  are 
stooping  to  them,  not  to  raise  them  up  to  your  level, 
but  to  bring  yourself  down  to  theirs."  ' 


'  "  Parson  and  Parish." 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  419 

In  the  treatment  of  the  dehased  poor  and  outcast  of 
our  great  cities,  much  tact  is  required.  Actual  want 
should  be  at  once  relieved  ;  but  it  is  not  perhaps  always 
well,  on  every  visit,  to  give  money,  for  then  it  will  be 
always  expected,  and  the  hope  of  it  may  produce  a  false 
state  of  mind  ;  but  the  alms  should  be  given  at  other 
times  and  in  other  ways.  The  complaints  and  bitter  re- 
marks of  very  ignorant  and  poor  people  are  to  be  kindly 
borne,  even  their  occasional  hypocrisy  and  want  of  truth  ; 
for  these  faults,  strange  as  it  sounds,  may  sometimes  sub- 
sist with  good  qualities.' 

Not  only  the  young,  thoughtless,  impenitent,  ignorant, 
tempted,  vicious,  need  kind  personal  conversation, 
admonition  and  counsel,  but  Christians  also,  at  times, 
need  the  same.  The  world  entangles  them  ;  cares, 
anxieties,  business  troubles,  ambitions,  artificial  pleas- 
ures, the  gains  and  glare  of  this  world,  dazzle  and  be- 
guile the  best  minds.  The  pastor  should  go  around 
like  Christ,  the  "  Good  Shepherd,"  liberating  entangled 
souls  from  the  snares  of  the  world,  and  giving  them  com- 
fort, light,  and  aid.  A  strong  word  of  hearty  faith,  of 
simple  trust  in  the  right,  will  often  give  the  relieving 
blow  to  cut  a  meshed  soul  free.  The  seasonable  visit  of 
the  pastor  may  sometimes  be  blessed  to  the  saving  of  a 
soul  that  is  trembling  on  the  verge  of  some  great  and 
destroying  temptation. 

There  is  more  danger  from  indolence  in  regard  to  the 
duty  of  pastoral  visitation  than  there  is  from  over-zeal 
and  overwork  in  it.  "  The  night  cometh  when  no  man 
can  work."  The  following  timely  remarks  are  from 
Dean  Stanley's  "  Treatise  on  the  Epistles  to  the  Seven 
Churches  :"   "  Perhaps  in  our  day  none  are  more  tempted 


'  "  Manse  of  Mastland." 


420  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

to  measure  out  to  themselves  tasks  too  light  and  in- 
adequate, than  those  to  whom  an  office  and  ministry  in 
the  church  has  been  committed.  Indeed,  there  is  here 
to  them  an  ever-recurring  temptation,  and  this  from  the 
fact  that  they  do,  for  the  most  part,  measure  out  their 
own  day's  task  themselves.  Others,  in  almost  every 
other  calling,  have  it  measured  out  to  them  ;  if  not  the 
zeal,  earnestness,  sincerity,  which  they  are  to  put  into 
the  performance  of  it,  yet  at  any  rate  the  outward  limits, 
the  amount  of  time  they  shall  devote  to  it,  and  often  the 
definite  quantity  of  it  which  they  shall  accomplish.  It 
is  not  so  with  us.  We  give  it  exactly  the  number  of 
hours  which  we  please.  We  are,  for  the  most  part,  re- 
sponsible to  no  man  ;  and  when  laborers  thus  apportion 
their  own  burdens,  and  do  this  from  day  to  day,  how 
near  the  danger  that  they  should  unduly  spare  them- 
selves, and  make  the  burdens  far  lighter  than  they  should 
have  been  !" 


Sec.  24.    Care  of  the  Sick  and  the  Afflicted. 

The  pastor  should  be  early  impressed  with  the  truth  of 
the  value  of  the  opportunity  which  sickness  and  sorrow 
among  his  people  afford  him  of  being  not  only  a  means 
of  consolation,  but  of  spiritual  benefit  to  them.  The 
sick  man  is  a  prisoner  shut  up  in  his  room,  humbled  by 
the  feeling  of  need,  in  fear  of  death  perchance — life  re- 
cedes, the  eternal  world  draws  near.  The  efforts  of  the 
religious  teacher  are  then  more  apt  to  be  appreciated. 
But  he  must  have  the  purpose,  the  great  aim,  to  point 
the  soul  to  God — if  a  good  man,  to  console  and  encourage 
him  ;  if  an  impenitent  man,  to  lead  him  to  true  repent- 
ance. He  should  approach  the  sick-bed  with  a  profound 
sense    of    dependence    upon    God.      Sickness    should    be 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  421 

sacred.  It  is  the  hand  of  God  pressing  heavily.  "  For 
I  was  sick  and  ye  visited  me."  Then  is  the  time  for 
the  visitation  and  consolation  of  the  minister  of  divine 
mercy  and  truth.  No  rose-water  Gospel  will  reach  actual 
sorrow-  and  affliction.  There  must  be  real  help,  real 
medicine  both  for  bo^y  and  mind.  Take  a  poor  man 
with  an  incurable  cancer  I  Who  is  to  bring  him  comfort 
in  his  hopelessness  of  earthly  things,  but  a  true  angel  of 
God's  love  ?  There  may  be  those  in  a  parish  who  have 
no  other  friend  than  the  pastor  himself.  There  may  be 
starving  children  on  a  comfortless  bed  of  sickness  and 
poverty,  with  no  alleviation,  no  physician,  no  outlook 
but  upon  death  and  despair.  We  should  be  aroused  to 
the  fact  that  there  is  a  vast  deal  of  real  misery  in  the 
world,  and  that,  come  from  what  source  it  may,  from 
sin  or  adversity,  we,  as  ministers  of  Christ,  are  appointed 
to  heal  and  alleviate  it. 

In  our  Puritan  conception  of  the  ministry,  we  ap- 
parently lose  some  of  the  advantages  of  the  priestly  idea 
of  the  ministry,  and  of  the  immense  official  authority 
which  this  idea  gives. 

The  priest  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  or  even,  in 
some  instances,  the  clergyman  of  the  English  Estab- 
lished Church,  calls  upon  the  sick  as  an  oi^cial  duty, 
and  the  sick  person  makes  confession  to  him  as  one  who 
has  spiritual  authority,  or  is  a  kind  of  mediator  between 
man  and  God.  That  may,  in  some  instances,  possibly 
compel  a  more  candid  confession  of  the  state  of  his  heart 
than  can  be  drawn  forth  by  simple  ministers  of  the  gospel. 
If  one  stands,  as  it  were,  in  the  place  of  God,  being  able 
to  absolve  the  soul  from  sin,  or  as  one  who,  in  the  name 
of  the  Church,  holds  the  keys  of  the  eternal  world,  he 
may  produce  such  fear  in  the  mind  of  the  sick  person 
that  the  truth,  however  painful,  shall  be  forced  from  him. 


422  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  minister  of  a  Protestant  church  visits  the  sick 
rather  in  the  relation  of  a  spiritual  friend  ;  and  the  sick 
person  may  or  may  not  feel  compelled  to  reveal  his  heart, 
his  true  spiritual  condition,  to  a  human  being  ;  and  even 
if  the  sick  man  is  a  true  Christian,  there  may  be  in  his 
mind  a  feeling  that  his  dealings  at  such  a  time  are  with 
God,  rather  than  with  man.  But  this  want  of  ofificial 
authority  may  be  made  up,  and  more  than  made  up,  by 
the  minister's  own  wisdom,  faithfulness,  and  love  of  the 
soul  of  the  sick,  winning  his  free  and  willing  confidence, 
and  leading  him  to  seek  spiritual  aid  and  counsel  ;  so 
that  it  is  only  an  apparent  and  not  real  superiority  which 
the  Roman  Catholic  priest  possesses  over  the  humblest 
minister  of  true  piety  and  fidelity. 

As  we  have  before  hinted,  it  is  never  well  to  put  off  a 
visit  upon  a  sick  person,  or  to  delay  it  so  long  that  it 
shall  look  as  if  one  came  because  there  were  some  im- 
mediate danger  of  death  ;  thusgiving  the  impression  that 
the  visit  is  a  compulsory  one.  When  a  pastor  learns  that 
one  of  his  people  is  very  ill,  he  should  at  once  go  to  see 
him  without  waiting  to  be  sent  for  ;  but  he  should, 
nevertheless,  endeavor  to  time  his  call  so  opportunely 
and  naturally  that  the  suspicion  of  its  being  an  extraordi- 
nary call  shall  not  be  awakened,  and  thus,  in  some  in- 
stances, excite  and  alarm  the  sufferer,  or  in  others  close 
the  mind  to  all  spiritual  benefit. 

In    the    case    of    the    extremely   weak  and   the   dying, 

sometimes   all   that  one  can  do   is   to   ask,  solemnly  and 

affectionately,    some    very  brief  question  in 

nversa  1  j.g^^j.^  ^^  ^.j^g  state  of  the  soul,  and  the  hope 
with  the  sick.        ° 

it   experiences,  or  to  speak   some   animating 

text  of  Scripture.  Has  he  truly  repented  of  his  sins  ? 
Is  he  in  peace  and  charity  with  all  men  ?  Has  he  for- 
given   all    men  ?     Has   he,    as    far   as   he    can,    repaired 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  423 

all  wrong  committed  by  himself  ?  Has  he  put  a  living 
faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  ?  In  visiting  the  sick,  it 
is  often  well  for  the  pastor  to  read  from  the  Bible  an  ap- 
propriate inspiring  passage  ;  for  the  Bible  never  sounds 
so  sweet  or  divine  as  in  a  sick-room  ;  never  do  the 
Psalms,  the  conversations  of  Jesus  in  John's  Gospel,  and 
the  descriptions  of  the  blessed  state  in  the  Book  of 
Revelation,  seem  to  be  so  truly  the  words  of  God  out  of 
heaven,  as  in  the  chamber  of  sickness  and  of  approaching 
death.  Then  nothing  but  the  everlasting  words  of  God 
serve.      "  They  are  spirit,  and  they  are  life." 

What  one  says  at  such  a  time  should  be  pungent  and 
full  of  Christ.  Of  course  different  cases  should  be 
differently  treated.  One  would  speak  to  a  notoriously 
wicked  and  hardened  man  in  a  different  way  from  what 
he  would  speak  to  an  ordinarily  correct  man,  but  to  both 
firmly  and  pungently,  though  kindly.  Wisdom  is  needed 
here.  The  morality  of  a  moral  man  should  never  be  dis- 
paraged, but  its  imperfection  may  be  shown,  and  the 
need  of  a  higher  and  more  perfect  righteousness  may  be 
urged.  It  should  be  truly  preaching  the  gospel,  its 
hopes  and  fears,  its  promises  and  duties,  the  need  of  re- 
generation, and  the  forgiveness  of  sins  through  faith  in 
Christ,  the  personal  obligation  of  the  soul  to  God,  God's 
eternal  judgment  of  the  soul — great  vital  truths,  uttered 
in  a  few  simple  phrases,  without  refining  upon  them  ;  the 
objective  rather  than  subjective  view  of  them  ;  in  a  word, 
Christ,  the  great  object  of  the  sick  and  sinful  soul  to  rest 
upon,  lifted  up  clearly  to  view. 

Even  the  believer,  in  his  hour  of  sickness  and  feeble- 
ness, often  needs  encouragement  ;  and  the  pastor  should 
not  go  into  the  sick-chamber  as  into  a  hospital,  with  a 
"lugubrious  countenance.  He  should  go  there  to  carry 
comfort  and  life,  without  manifesting  lightness  and  want 


4^4  Pastoral  theology. 

of  appreciation  of  the  circumstances  of  suffering,  and 
perhaps  of  the  near  approach  to  death.  But  there 
should  be  good  cheer  in  the  sick-room  ;  and  duty  might 
sometimes  lead  the  pastor  to  draw  away  the  mind  for  a 
little  time  from  dwelling  morbidly  on  religious  themes. 
In  some  diseases  especially,  there  are  alternations  of  feel- 
ing ;  at  times  the  sick  think  that  they  should  be  dwelling 
upon  God  every  moment,  and  are  not  contented  unless 
they  are  doing  so  ;  but  is  the  healthy  Christian  mind 
always,  every  instant,  so  intensely  taken  up  with  these 
themes  ?  Must  it  not  commonly  turn  to  common  sub- 
jects ? 

How  far  the  minister  of  religion  should  ask  for  confes- 
sions of  sin,  is  an  interesting  and  difficult  question. 
Certainly  great  delicacy,  judgment,  and  conscientious- 
ness should  be  used  here.  God  alone  can  hear  and  for- 
give sins  ;  yet  sometimes  it  is  good  for  a  burdened  soul 
to  make  confession  to  man,  and  to  the  Church.  The 
apostle  James  says,  "  Confess  your  faults  one  to  another, 
and  pray  for  one  another  that  ye  may  be  healed."  The 
confession  even  then  is  not  made  to  man  so  much  as  to 
God  ;  and  it  should  come,  to  the  human  ear  at  least, 
freely,  spontaneously,  not  being  drawn  out  by  adroit 
questions,  or  forced  by  the  presentation  of  overwhelming 
terrors. 

It  may  be  also  that  even  a  Christian  mind  is  constitu- 
tionally inclined  to  look  upon  the  dark  side  of  things  ; 
and  this  tendency  will  probably  be  increased  as  the 
bodily  strength  diminishes,  and  as  the  will  is  less  able  to 
resist  this  despondent  feeling.  A  person  may  thus, 
though  a  good  man,  fall  almost  into  hopeless  despair 
concerning  his  spiritual  state,  and  he  may  fear  to  die. 
The  pastor  then  should  recall  to  him  the  proofs  of  a' 
Christian  character  that  have  manifested   themselves  in 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  425 

his  life,  and,  with  a  kind  of  holy  boldness,  should  offer  a 
liv^ely  defence  of  himself  against  himself,  not  to  produce 
self-confidence,  but  to  awaken  in  him  hope  that  God  will 
not  leave  him  in  the  hour  of  need  ;  that  Christ,  in  whom 
he  has  trusted,  will  not  now  forsake  him.  In  almost 
every  such  case,  God  vouchsafes  light  to  the  soul  before 
death  ;  but  still  there  are  instances  where  the  best  Chris- 
tians die  under  a  cloud. 

A  pastor  may  also  encourage  a  good  man  who  is  in 
this  dark  state,  by  saying  to  him,  that  perhaps  God  may 
permit  this  darkness  in  his  case,  in  order  to  instruct  and 
encourage  other  Christians.  They  will  say,  there  is  our 
brother,  whose  whole  life  has  spoken  for  the  faith  ;  we 
have  seen  his  self-sacrificing  spirit  ;  we  know  the  love 
there  is  in  him  ;  and  yet  he  is  permitted  to  lie  in  his  last 
hours  under  a  deep  shadow  of  doubt  and  fear.  Let  us, 
then,  hope  for  ourselves,  although  the  light  given  us  is 
often  faint  and  feeble.  Let  us  not  trust  to  outward 
manifestations  and  feelings,  but  to  deeper  principles  of 
faith,  and  of  the  life  of  God  within  the  soul. 

Those,  however,  are  peculiar  cases,  and,  as  a  general 
rule,  it  is  always  safe  to  point  the  soul  to  Christ  for  trust 
and  hope  ;  to  endeavor  to  produce  true  humility,  and  to 
take  away  the  grounds  of  self-confidence.  It  is  better 
sometimes  simply  to  read  portions  of  Scripture  than  to 
attempt  to  talk  or  preach. 

Some  Christians,  as  well  as  other  men,  have  strong 
fears  of  physical  death  ;  and  it  is  in  that  case  needful  for 
the  pastor  to  stimulate  the  mind,  "  to  raise  the  spirit 
above  the  dust,"  to  fix  it  upon  the  invisible  and  eternal 
— upon  that  "  everlasting  life"  which  a  true  hope  in 
Christ  gives. 

The  sick-room  and  dying-bed  of  the  Christian  is  the 
antechamber  of  heaven  ;    where   the   pastor   may    learn 


426  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

more,  and  see  deeper  into  heavenly  things,  than  any- 
where else  on  earth  ;  and  how  great  is  the  privilege  to  be 
permitted  to  stand  by  and  see  the  glory  and  the  love  of 
God  !  One  feels  that  instead  of  coming  to  aid  others, 
he  is  there  himself  to  learn.  What  are  the  terrors  of 
death  to  the  Christian  mind  ?  Thousands  and  millions 
have  overcome  the  fear  of  death  through  Christ 
strengthening  them,  even  in  the  terrors  of  shipwreck,  and 
painful  death,  in  the  jaws  of  the  lion  and  at  the  stake. 
The  pains  of  death  cannot  long  endure.  Only  the  soul 
that  has  sinned  and  still  remains  impenitent,  that  has 
wronged  itself  and  will  not  do  right  and  seek  the  everlast- 
ing reformation  of  God,  suffers  real  loss.  Only  he  who 
despises  eternal  life  loses  eternal  life. 

The  most  trying  part  of  the  pastoral  work  is  the  pre- 
paring of  the  impenitent  mind  for  death.  How  much  of 
truth,  firmness,  faithfulness,  faith,  patience,  and  love  are 
here  required  !  This  is,  indeed,  the  touchstone  of  the 
pastor's  faith  and  character.  There  is  a  deep-wrought 
feeling  in  the  Church  that  death-bed  repentances  are  for 
the  most  part  untrue  ;  and  this  is  a  healthful  sentiment 
in  one  sense  ;  for  the  life  manifests  the  child  of  God  ; 
but  we  may  carry  this  feeling  too  far,  and  forget  the  in- 
finite mercy  of  God,  and  also  his  infinite  power,  which  is 
able  to  save  to  the  uttermost  all  who  come  unto  him,  and 
we  should  never,  never  give  up  the  truth  of  the  possi- 
bility of  the  salvation  of  any  soul  so  long  as  life  lasts  ; 
even  as  the  saving  look  of  the  Redeemer  fell  upon  the 
expiring  thief  at  his  side.  The  patience  of  love,  and  the 
hope  of  faith,  then,  for  the  sinner,  should  be  literally  un- 
limited. Yet  the  treatment  of  a  sick  or  dying  man,  whose 
heart  is  hardened  in  impenitence,  or  who  is  a  decided 
opposer  of  the  truth,  is  a  difficult  matter.  To  argue 
upon   doctrinal  points  with  him   is  usually  futile.      Con- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  427 

troversy  produces  irritability  and  passion  in  the  sick 
rather  than  conviction.  One  may  strive  in  direct  or  in- 
direct ways  to  discover  what  is  the  false  ground  of  confi- 
dence to  which  they  who  die  impenitent  cling,  and  this 
should  be  taken  away,  and  the  truth  clearly,  firmly, 
kindly  presented. 

The  insensible  soul  should  be  awakened,  and  made  to 
realize  eternity.  But  often,  where  it  can  be,  prayer  is 
the  only  and  the  last  resort  in  the  sick-room  ;  and  in 
prayer  one  can  pour  out  all  his  heart,  his  fears,  thoughts, 
and  desires  concerning  the  sick  ;  and  it  is  right  to  do  so, 
for  God  would  surely  desire  to  bless,  and  would  the 
more  willingly  bless  so  earliest  a  prayer.  And  if  any- 
thing will  awaken  fervent  prayer,  it  is  to  see  a  soul 
trembling  on  the  edge  of  eternity,  and  unprepared  for 
the  change.  Then  a  minister  feels  his  responsibility  to 
be  too  great  for  him  to  bear  ;  he  must  go  to  God,  and 
lay  the  burden  upon  Him.  An  English  clergyman  gives 
his  testimony  to  the  fact  that  sick  and  dying  persons  are 
often  more  conscious  of  what  is  going  on  about  them 
than  we  are  aware  of.  He  relates  two  or  three  actual  in- 
stances of  apparently  unconscious  and  dying  persons 
hearing  perfectly  the  prayers  repeated  by  their  bedsides, 
and  profiting  by  them  to  the  good  of  their  souls,  as  they 
have  testified  on  partial  recovery  ;  and  the  writer  adds, 
"  Acting  upon  this  conviction,  I  never  lose  an  opportu- 
nity of  praying  by  the  bedside  of  the  sick,  even  when 
the  patient  is  himself  unconscious  ;  and  not  only  in  my 
form  of  expression  do  I  pray  for,  but  pray  with  the 
sufferer."  '  "  The  soul,"  says  Joubert,  "  is  ever  fully 
alive.  It  is  so  in  the  sick,  in  those  who  have  fainted, 
and  in  the  dying — still  more  so  in  the  dead." 


'  "Parson  and  People,"  p.  19S. 


428  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  pastor  sometimes  finds  a  peculiar  trial  with  a  class 
of  persons  of  a  negative  type  of  character,  who,  when 
brought  to  lie  upon  a  feeble  and  dying-bed,  are  transfixed 
with  fears,  and  are  willing  to  give  implicit  assent  to 
everything  that  is  said  to  them.  This  is  the  case  often 
with  those  whose  lives  have  been  amiable,  but  who  have 
exhibited  no  decided  change  of  heart,  or  no  positive  re- 
ligious character.  They  listen  with  eagerness,  and  they 
apparently  assent  to  the  truth  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  know 
whether  it  is  a  true  or  false  sorrow.  One  has,  in  such 
cases,  to  exercise  mingled  firmness  and  gentleness.  The 
heart  should  be  proved  ;  it  may  be  even  needful  to  arouse 
by  words  of  searching  truth.  One  should  endeavor  to 
draw  forth  some  sincere  statement  of  the  true  state  of 
the  heart,  however  incoherent  and  crude  it  be.  It  may 
be  discovered  that  the  heart,  though  troubled,  really  rests 
on  some  error,  some  false  security.  How  difficult  it 
often  is  to  drive  the  soul  from  this  refuge  of  lies,  to  lay 
hold  upon  the  true  hope  in  Christ  ! 

For  weeks  and  weeks  a  faithful  pastor  may  perceive  no 
change,  no  sign  of  the  mind's  movement  toward  a  higher 
foundation.  There  is,  perhaps,  the  same  feeble  hope 
expressed  in  the  goodness  of  one's  intentions,  in  the  gen- 
eral outward  morality  of  one's  life,  or  in  the  indiscrimi- 
nate and  unintelligent  mercy  of  God.  The  soul  has 
incredible  powers  of  resistance,  even  in  the  weakest 
natures,  and  to  the  last  moment  of  life  it  may  not  yield 
its  will  to  the  will  of  God.  The  power  of  human  pride 
partakes  of  the  soul's  immortal  nature.  The  pastor 
should  be  aware  of  the  fact,  that  in  the  very  process  of 
disease  itself,  a  placid  state  of  feeling  is  sometimes  pro- 
duced in  the  mind,  a  dreamy  tranquillity,  which  has  no 
thought  of  the  future,  and  is  willing  to  let  body  and  soul 
go  without  further  care.      It  becomes  one's  duty  to  dis- 


THE   PASTOR' S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  429 

criminate  between  the  effect  of  such  a  dissolution  of  the 
powers  of  nature  and  the  real  tranquillity  that  true  faith 
brings. 

The  effect  even  of  anodynes  upon  the  mind  is  some- 
times great,  and  may  produce  happy  feelings,  and 
delightful  views  of  heaven,  of  which,  if  the  sick  person 
perchance  recovers,  he  may  retain  no  recollection. 

Let  one  endeavor  to  turn  the  mind  of  the  sick  and 
dying  away  from  earthly  and  human  supports,  to  rest 
upon  Christ.  Speak  inspiringly  ;  hold  the  Saviour  up  to 
view  ;  be  an  ambassador  of  mercy  and  hope  ;  let  words 
of  divine  grace  fall  from  your  lips — the  words  of  life  ! 

And  the  pastor  should  not  neglect  the  convalescent, 
but  should  continue  to  visit  them  faithfully  during  all  the 
period  of  their  recovery  ;  for  in  this  he  shows  true 
friendship,  and  not  the  mere  pressure  of  professional 
obligation. 

One  should  make  a  definite  preparation  for  the  visita- 
tion of  the  sick  ;  he  should  mark  the  passages  of  Script- 
ure to  be  read,  and  think  over  the  remarks  he  will  make, 
so  that  they  may  be  plain  and  condensed,  easy  to  be 
understood,  and  yet  full  of  solid  truth.  They  should  be 
put  in  such  a  shape  that  the  feeble  mind  may  readily  re- 
tain and  reflect  upon  them  ;  that  the  weary  may,  so  to 
speak,  hold  them  in  their  weak  hands.  In  concluding 
this  theme,  we  would  quote  the  practical  counsel  of 
Jeremy  Taylor,  which  should  be  impressed  on  the  minds 
of  a  Christian  people  :  "  Let  the  minister  of  religion  be 
sent  to,  not  only  against  the  agony,  or  death,  but  be 
advised  with  in  the  whole  course  of  the  sickness  ;"  for 
while  the  mind  is  still  clear,  and  capable  of  thought  and 
voluntary  action,  then  the  preaching  of  the  Word  may  be 
signally  blest,  while  sickness  closes  the  door  to  the  world 
and  shuts  up  the  soul  to  God  and  eternal  things. 


430  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

We  would  now  say  a  word  concerning  the  visitation  of 

the  afflicted  and  sorrowful,  who  are  suffering  by  reason  of 

the  loss   of   friends,    or  any  other    trouble. 

Visitation     Iinmense  good   often  results  from  affliction. 

,„.    .  It  is  crood   for  a  man  that  he  is  afflicted — the 

affliction.  ^^ 

foundations  of  his  hope  are  tried — he  learns  to 
have  happiness  in  himself  alone,  in  real  righteousness 
and  union  with  God,  and  not  in  external  things  ;  hence 
those  sorrows  which  lead  us  to  God  and  show  us  God, 
and  reveal  the  depths  of  spiritual  things,  are  preferable 
to  joys.  As  the  great  composer,  Beethoven,  when  he  be- 
came deaf,  rose  to  higher  strains  and  seemed  to  catch,  in 
his  inner  ear,  the  melody  of  spiritual  quires,  so  the  gross- 
ness  of  sense  and  the  dulness  of  our  earthly  natures  are 
often  purified  by  affliction,  and  the  ministers  of  God's  pity 
are  taught  thereby  the  finer  lesson  of  sympathy.  It  is 
his  duty  not  only  to  preach  salvation  to  the  lost,  but  heal- 
ing to  the  sick  and  sorrowful.  How  much  of  Christ's 
ministry  was  of  this  character  !  Like  Christ,  his  minister 
is  anointed  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  and  this  gives  him 
power  to  heal  likewise  the  sin-stricken  soul.  Christ  came 
after  John,  who  came  in  the  -power  of  Elias,  but  Christ 
with  the  power  of  sympathy.  The  minister  of  Christ's 
love  does  but  half  of  his  appointed  work  who  forgets 
this.  He  is  to  be  an  angel  of  mercy  as  well  as  of  truth 
— a  son  of  consolation  as  well  as  a  son  of  thunder.  This 
is  a  blessed  and  even  an  angelical  part  of  the  pastor's 
work.  In  seasons  of  sorrow  the  pastor  may  make  swift 
strides  into  the  affections  of  his  people  ;  and  the  truth, 
too,  has  then  a  subduing  power  that  it  rarely  has  at  other 
times,  although  those  times  of  affliction  also  draw  upon 
a  minister's  own  strength,  and  sometimes  they  seem  to 
sap  his  very  life.  There  is,  however,  a  simple  secret 
which  a  pastor  learns,  though  not  perhaps  until  after  a 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  431 

considerable  experience,  and  this  secret  is  that  he  is  not 
called  upon  to  furnish  all  the  feeling,  but  rather  to  guide 
and  regulate  it  ;  that  he  need  not  exhaust  himself  to 
provide  artificial  emotions,  but  that  a  few  words  of  Chris- 
tian sympathy,  such  as  a  true  pastor  will  have  at  his  com- 
mand, are  sufficient  to  touch  the  overcharged  spring  in 
the  heart  of  the  af^icted,  and  it  will  find  relief  in  its  own 
expression  and  flow. 

A  young  pastor  will  find  a  great  deal  of  real  sorrow  in 
the  world,  even  in  his  own  little  parish — as  well  as  a  great 
deal  of  happiness  ;  for  we  do  not  believe,  as  George  Eliot 
says,  that  there  is  more  sorrow  than  joy  in  the  world.  He 
will  find  sorrow  and  misery  as  the  result  of  selfishness,  of 
wrong  ("  wrung"  out  of  the  right  course),  of  profligacy, 
ignorance,  crime,  wives  treated  harshly  and  cruelly,  sons 
filling  their  parents'  hearts  with  bitterness  and  terrible 
solicitude  by  their  wayward  courses.  The  troubles  aris- 
ing from  pecuniary  losses  form  a  source  of  immense  evil, 
hard  to  alleviate  because  these  touch  the  selfish  inter- 
ests of  men,  their  worldly  happiness,  which  is  something 
they  can  appreciate,  and  which  they  care  for  supremely. 
Great  tact  and  wisdom  as  well  as  Christian  kindness  and 
love  are  needed  to  deal  with  these  troubles,  which  come 
sometimes  to  those  who  are  in  high  positions,  realizing 
the  sentiment  of  the  Greek  drama  : 

"  Ne'er  count  good  fortune  blessedness,  until 
The  man's  full  life  is  finish'd.     Little  time 
Suffices  the  bad  genius  to  bring  down 
Great  wealth,  through  God-sent  mutability 
And  the  dire  influence  of  dangerous  gifts." 

The  ancients,  too,  said  that  sorrow  and  joy  both  spring 
from  one  fountain,  and  certainl}^  sorrow  often  prepares 
the  way  for  joy.     Affliction  is  the  time  when  God  opens 


432  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  heart,  when  he  ploughs  the  heart's  depths  ;  and  then 
the  precious  seed  may  be  sowed  therein  :  but  still  it  is 
important  to  bear  in  mind  that  affliction  is  not  the  cause 
of  good  to  a  soul,  although  affliction  may  be  made,  by 
God's  grace,  the  occasion  of  inestimable  good  ;  for  afflic- 
tion, without  the  higher  influences  of  the  truth  and  the 
Spirit,  usually  injures  more  than  it  benefits  a  man. 
"  The  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness"  are  afterward 
yielded  to  those  "  who  are  exercised  thereby,"  who  are 
rightly  influenced  by  them.  The  Scriptures  speak  of 
two  kinds  of  sorrow,  very  different  in  their  nature,  which, 
in  truth,  lie  infinitely  apart — the  sorrow  felt  by  a  worldly 
mind  at  the  loss  of  the  things  it  holds  dear,  and  the 
godly  sorrow  which  leads  to  a  repentance  that  needs  not 
to  be  repented  of  ;  and  of  this  last  are  those  of  whom  the 
Lord  said,  "  Blessed  are  they  that  mourn  ;  for  they  shall 
be  comforted." 

A  pastor  should  therefore  keep  the  great  truth  in 
mind,  that  he  can  expect  no  spiritual  good  to  spring  from 
the  afflictions  of  his  people  unless  they  are  received  in 
faith,  unless  the  truth  is  mingled  with  them.  "  Every 
sacrifice  shall  be  salted  with  salt."  The  soul,  while  in 
an  agitated  state,  and  taken  up  wholly  and  selfishly  with 
its  sorrow,  cannot  receive  the  pure  word  of  truth  ;  it 
must  be  brought  to  calm  reflection  and  right  thoughts  of 
God.  The  pastor,  therefore,  has  a  double  duty  in  visit- 
ing the  afflicted,  first,  to  manifest  true  Christian 
sympathy  with  the  sorrowing,  to  "  weep  with  them  that 
weep,"  and,  then,  to  lead  their  souls  to  a  higher  Chris- 
tian consolation. 

When  a  pastor  visits  a  family  in  great  affliction,  he 
sometimes  enters  into  a  scene  of  moral  chaos.  It  may 
be,  for  the  most  part,  a  household  of  unchristianized  and 


THE  PASTOR'S  CARE    OF  SOULS.  433 

undisciplined  hearts,  that  are  thrown  into  violent  com- 
motion and  unwonted  conditions  ;  .the  grief  is  pas- 
sionate, unreflective,  and  unsubmissive  ;  the  whole  cur- 
rent of  feeling  is  turned  upon  the  memory  of  the 
deceased  friend  ;  he  is  exalted  into  something  almost 
superhuman  ;  nothing  can  be  spoken  but  of  his  un- 
paralleled worth  and  goodness  ;  he  is  assigned  a  high 
place  among  the  blessed  ;  and  there  can  be  no  thought 
or  conversation  but  of  him.  Now,  to  bring  such  pas- 
sionate and  excited  minds  to  look  to  God  rather  than  to 
man,  and  to  view  the  religious  obligations  of  the  chastise- 
ment, is  a  difficult  and  delicate  task,  for  natural  instincts 
and  family  affections,  good  but  undisciplined,  oft  obscure 
the  truth. 

But  the  minister,  kind  and  sympathizing  though  he  be, 
forbearing  though  he  may  be  to  human  sorrow,  and  even 
to  human  infirmities,  should  not  forget  that  he  is  the 
ambassador  cf  God,  and  he  should  lead  the  sorrowing 
firmly  away  from  false  sources  of  comfort  to  the  true  and 
Eternal  Source. 

The  pastor  should  also  strive  to  prevent  the  afflicted 
from  nursing  their  grief,  from  offering  sacrifice  to  it,  from 
indulging  in  what  is  called  "  the  luxury  of  woe,"  which 
only  unnerves  the  mind  from  doing  its  duty.  He  should 
show  the  real  impiety  of  this  course,  and  should  teach 
those  affections  that  have  been  prostrated  in  the  dust  to 
begin  to  reach  upward  to  Christ,  and  to  twine  upon  him, 
the  Almighty  Friend  and  Sustainer.  He  should  teach  the 
afflicted  to  endure  their  sorrows  with  patience  and  calm 
resignation  ;  he  should  set  forth  the  Christ-like  glory  of 
the  passive  virtues  ;  he  should  show  that  the  Christian  life 
lies  through  sufferings  ;  he  should  point  the  sorrowful 
to  "  the  Man  of  sorrows,"  and  should  show  them  that 


434  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

"  the  highway  of  the  cross,  which  the  King  of  sufferings 
hath  trodden  befQre  us,  is  the  way  to  ease,  to  a  kingdom, 
and  to  fehcity. "  ' 

It  is  both  wise  and  Christian  to  attend  to  the  temporal 
wants  of  those  who  are  in  affliction — to  do  all  possible 
acts  of  kindness  ;  and  where  there  is  real  want,  to  carry 
food,  raiment,  money,  in  one's  hands  ;  thus  showing  that 
the  interest  is  not  a  merely  official  one. 

Frequent  visits,  and  marked  kindness  on  the  part  of 
the  pastor  in  times  of  affliction,  bind  the  hearts  of  a 
family  to  their  pastor  by  the  strongest  bonds  of  gratitude. 
Words,  thoughts,  and  acts,  which,  perhaps,  are  not  hard 
for  him,  which  are  little  things  to  do,  yet  seem  great  to 
sorrowing  hearts,  and  strike  deep  in  them,  and  take  last- 
ing root.  The  strongest  prejudices  and  aversions  are 
then  overcome,  and  even  the  stubborn  will  of  hardened 
impenitence  often  gives  way  before  this  power  of  Chris- 
tian kindness  and  love. 

While  the  pastor's  immediate  purpose  in  visiting  the 
afflicted  is  that  of  consolation,  of  soothing  the  anguished 
and   sorrowing  mind,    yet   a   further   purpose   which   in- 
directly tends   to   this   object   of  permanent 
Conversation  consolation  is  to  bring  those  in  sorrow  into  a 
ffl'  f  n      I'ight  moral  condition,  thus  laying  the  cure  of 
grief  upon   the  true   foundation.      He  may 
effect  this  by  careful  and  thoughtful    conversation.     As 
to  the  thoughts  and  topics  that  a  minister  should  intro- 
duce in  visiting  families  and  persons  in  affliction,  those 
are,  of  course,  modified  by  the  circumstances  of  the  case  ; 
but  still  there  are  certain  topics  always  right  and  essential 
at  such    seasons.       It  is   always  right  to  speak  of  the 
supremacy  and  love  of  God  in  affliction  ;  and  the  truth 

'  Jeremy  Taylor's  "  Holy  Dying."     Works,  v.  i.,  p.  547. 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  435 

may  be  dwelt  upon  that  it  is  God  who  afflicts,  and  yet 
not  willingly,  but  for  the  real  good  of  the  sufferer.  The 
reasons  of  the  affliction  are  deep  in  goodness — for  the 
penitential  humbling  of  the  selfish  soul— for  the  trial  of 
faith — for  the  growth  of  holiness — for  moral  education 
and  refining — for  the  weakening  of  sin — for  the  loosening 
of  the  world's  grasp  on  the  spirit.  And  even  in  cases 
where  there  seems  to  be  no  ray  of  hope,  where  the  hajid 
of  God  does  not  appear  to  be  at  all  in  the  sorrow,  where 
death,  it  may  be,  is  caused  by  human  folly,  or  vice,  or 
crime,  the  relation  of  God's  ordering  will  to  such  an  event, 
and  to  all  events,  whether  good  or  bad,  should  be  shown, 
and  that  the  good  of  all  is  truly  subserved  ;  that  the  par- 
ticular loss  is  swallowed  up  in  the  general  gain  ;  and  that 
so  far  as  the  evil-doer  is  himself  concerned,  that  he  is  to 
be  left  in  the  hands  of  his  Creator,  his  best  Friend,  who 
knows  his  whole  history,  who  will  judge  him  righteously. 
God's  plan  is  one  like  his  perfect  and  transcendent  nature, 
and  though  we  see  only  half  here  the  other  half  is  in 
eclipse  and  forms  the  perfect  sphere.  "  Even  in  our 
sorrows  we  belong  to  the  eternal  plan." 

"  In  the  moral  world,"  says  Joubcrt,  "  nothing  is  lost, 
as  in  the  material  nothing  is  annihilated.  Our  thoughts, 
sentiments,  lives  here  below,  form  but  the  beginnings  of 
thoughts,  feelings,  and  lives  that  will  be  finished  else- 
where." There  is,  at  all  events,  a  recompense  to  the 
righteous,  to  the  believing  and  submissive  soul,  some- 
where in  the  universe  of  God,  if  not  here  yet  hereafter  ; 
and  all  such  shall  see  it  and  shall  bless  God,  for  "  many 
are  the  afflictions  of  the  righteous,  but  the  Lord 
delivereth  him  out  of  them  all."  "  All  things  shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God." 

Goodness  cannot  be  rewarded  with  earthly  good,  with 
material  prosperity  and    even    health  ;  the   joys  of   the 


43^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

spirit  must  be  immortal  like  itself/  Tell  the  good  man 
in  affliction  to  seek  for  spiritual  consolations  ;  and  tell 
him  too,  that  while  it  is  not  for  a  good  man  to  infer  that 
because  he  is  visited  by  bodily  afflictions  that  thereby  he 
is  being  punished  for  his  sins,  and  that  the  loss  of  earthly 
goods  are  no  more  in  the  way  of  divine  punishment  than 
the  gift  of  wealth  and  worldly  prosperity  is  a  divine  re- 
ward— for  the  worst  men  have  those — -yet,  notwithstand- 
ing this,  worldly  affliction  and  loss  may,  in  the  divine 
plan,  be  the  means  of  leading  the  soul  of  the  good  man 
to  higher  and  substantial  joys. 

We  sometimes,  when  afflicted  and  suffering,  are  tempted 
to  ask,  Why  should  not  God  make  us  good  without 
making  us  suffer?  But  how  could  we  be  made  virtuous 
without  being  made  humble?  "  Not  to  have  discerned 
the  relation  of  sorrow  to  virtue,  is  perhaps  one  of  the 
most  striking  defects  pervading  all  the  Greek  moral 
philosophy."  "^  Our  self-love  must  be  overthrown,  and  a 
moral  foundation  of  righteousness  must  be  laid  in  the 
mind.  "  It  would  be  a  miracle  could  a  soul  be  perfect 
at  once.  Thus  God,  by  sorrow,  works  in  us  invisibly, 
moulds  us  by  a  thousand  influences,  destroys  our 
delusions  by  letting  us  see  their  effects,  just  as  a  wise 
parent  does  a  child.  As  long  as  we  love  vain  and  wrong 
things,  so  long  chastisement  will  continue — so  long  we 
need  teaching.  The  operation  is  painful  because  the 
disease  is  deep  ;  but  our  present  grief  saves  us  from 
eternal  sorrow.  And  it  is  true  that  God  is  good,  that  he 
is  tender  and  compassionate  toward  our  real  sorrows, 
even  when  he  strikes  us  to  the  heart,  and  we  are  tempted 
to  complain  of  his  severity."  ^ 

Lead  then  the  afflicted  soul  to  God,  and  leave  it  there, 

'  Zschokke.  '  J.  H.  Newman.  s  Fenelon. 


THE  PASTOR'S  CAKE    OF  SOULS.  437 

to  the  deep  and  healing  consolations  which  can  alone 
flow  from  the  comforting  hand  of  the  heavenly  Father. 
The  name  of  Jesus  to  the  sufferer  is  like  balm,  or  like 
ointment,  poured  out  in  the  house  of  affliction,  that  gives 
refreshment,  strength,  and  new  life  to  the  weak  soul  that 
is  ready  to  perish. 

Exhortations,  also,  to  sincere  contrition  and  repent- 
ance of  sins,  to  prayerfulness,  and  to  the  performance  of 
all  religious  duties,  are  assuredly  right  and  essential  to 
any  idea  of  pastoral  faithfulness  at  such  a  time.  "  Is 
any  afflicted,  let  him  pray  ;"  afHiction  is  the  time  for  the 
taking  up  of  spiritual  exercises,  for  the  beginning  or  the 
reconsecration  and  reconstruction  of  a  fallen  religious  life. 

In  true  repentance,  in  a  pure  turning  to  God,  the  Holy 
Spirit,  who  is  the  real  and  only  Comforter,  can  alone  be 
found  ;  and  the  pastor  should  labor  to  make  manifest  to 
those  in  affliction  that  the  foundation  of  peace  is  in  God 
alone,  in  everlasting  reconciliation  with  Him  ;  that  it 
should  be  laid  within,  not  in  things  without.  "  We  must 
be  divorced  from  our  idols,  to  be  made  agents  for  God." 

"  To  him  that  is  afflicted  pity  should  be  shown."  All 
the  expressions  of  a  simple  and  genuine  sympathy  are 
deeply  appreciated  at  such  a  time  ;  and  every  alleviating 
circumstance  or  fact  of  the  affliction  itself  (for  afflictions 
are  perfectly  natural  or  in  the  natural  system  of  things, 
like  the  alternations  of  night  and  day,  winter  and  summer, 
in  the  physical  world,  that  bring  about  the  growth  of  life) 
from  which  consolation  can  be  drawn,  every  mingling  of 
mercy  in  the  cup  of  sorrow,  may  be  noticed  and  made 
use  of  ;  only  let  the  pastor  not  suffer  the  afflicted  to  rest 
in  those  things,  but  let  him  lead  the  soul  to  spiritual  and 
divine  consolations  ;  and,  lastly,  that  joy  which  the 
Christian,  and  the  Christian  pastor,  has  in  his  heart 
should  be   freely  expressed  ;    for   Christian  pastors    are 


43^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

"  the  helpers  of  the  joy  of  their  people"  in  times  of 
trouble  and  darkness.  They  have  a  joy  which  they  share 
with  Christ,  and  which  the  world  cannot  touch  ;  which  is 
the  gift  of  the  Spirit  of  God  ;  which  overcomes  sorrow, 
death,  and  the  sad  changes  of  time,  and  which  is  able  also 
to  impart  joy  and  comfort  to  those  who  are  in  affliction. 

Sec.  25.    Treatment  of  Different  Classes. 

The  sources  of  opposition  to  divine  truth  are  so  varied, 
and  are  so  often  found  in  different  tempers  of  mind,  and 
in  subtle  moral  causes,  that  they  lie  more  exclusively  in 
the  domain  of  the  pastoral  than  of  the  theological  re- 
sponsibility of  the  minister.  There  is  something  radically 
wrong,  doubtless,  in  the  heart  of  every  opposer  of  divine 
truth  ;  but  the  hostility  which  springs  from  a  corrupt 
heart  and  which  is  a  part  of  the  life  of  a  wicked  mind 
positively  antagonistic  to  every  revelation  of  a  super- 
natural will,  is  a  thing  different  from  that  negative  disbe- 
lief which  springs  from  purely  intellectual  difficulties  in 
minds  it  maybe  of  acute  and  superior  powers,  and  which 
admits,  to  a  certain  extent,  of  human  medication,  or,  at 
least,  allows  of  the  operation  of  a  large  charity.  The 
difficulties  of  such  minds  should  be  kindly  recognized 
and  patiently  reasoned  with,  for  they  may  be  difficulties 
that  can  be  removed. 

I.    The  unbelieving  and  impenitent. 
The  theologian  meets  the  doubt  as  it  presents  itself  in 
its  objective  aspects  ;  but  the  pastor  looks  behind  the 
doubt,  and  searches  carefully  into   its  deeper 

^"    subjective  causes  and  conditions.      His   aim 
lieving  and     . 

imoenitent     ^"'^  "°^  ^°  refute  error,  not  to  conquer  opposi- 
tion,   but   to   save   the   erring   soul.      A  wise 
and   Christ-like  treatment  of  doubt  sometimes  leads  to 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  439 

the  firm  establishment  of  faith  ;  for  a  sincere  doubt  ex- 
presses, on  the  whole,  a  condition  of  mind  far  more 
hopeful  than  a  lifeless  acquiescence  or  indifferentism  ; 
and  a  sceptic,  if  he  is  a  truth-seeker,  may  be  in  one  stage 
of  development  toward  a  larger  and  higher  faith.  The 
very  progress  of  the  human  mind,  coming  in  apparent 
collision  with  the  facts  of  Christianity,  produces  agitation 
in  souls  not  as  yet  profoundly  established  in  faith,  like  a 
strong  wind  that  blows  against  the  current,  and  raises 
commotion  in  the  waters. 

There  is  really  no  absolute  discord  between  reason 
and  revelatiion.  The  gfeat  truths  of  Christianity  are 
the  great  truths  of  philosophy  ;  and  while  the  author- 
ity of  the  Scriptures  has  been  sometimes  denied,  yet 
the  reality  and  Tightness  of  the  truths  which  the  Bible 
contains  have  not  been  and  cannot  be  denied.  Its  rule 
is  a  right  rule.  The  Bible,  indeed,  is  its  own  best  wit- 
ness. If  true,  it  is  superhuman,  and  it  is  true  be- 
cause it  is  in  harmony  with  the  facts  of  nature  and  rea- 
son, and  with  the  constitution  of  our  being.  The  prin- 
ciples that  the  Bible  teaches — the  way  of  life  that  it  opens 
to  the  soul — do  lead  the  soul  to  the  true  life.  "  If  then, 
the  Bible  is  true,  absolute  scepticism  is  a  weak  thing," 
on  the  principle  that  "  we  can  do  nothing  against  the 
truth"  (2  Cor.  13  :  8). 

The  unbelief  which  springs  from  the  progress  of  science, 
and     the    widening    of    the    intellectual    vi-   intellectual 
sion,    should    be  met    with  the  same    broad     and  moral 
intelligence     as    that    which     originates     it.      unbelief. 
The  peculiar  form  of  denial  in  the  present  age;  having 
abandoned    the    region     of    the    supernatural,    rests    al- 
most  entirely    in    the   region   of  the  pure    intellect,  and 
in  the  positive  facts  and  conclusions  of  the  natural  rea- 
son, and  it   must   be    overcome  by  a  faith   that  fully  rec- 


44°  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ognizes  and  admits  the  difficulties  in  scientific  minds  ; 
that  no  longer  narrowly  contends  against  the  advance  of 
knowledge  ;  that  is  itself  philosophical,  in  harmony  with 
the  progress  of  true  science,  and  that  is  more  earnest, 
more  self-sacrificing,  more  efficient  in  good  to  humanity 
than  is  scientific  doubt.  "  The  two  domains  of  religion 
and  science  adjoin  without  encroaching  on  each  other's 
ground  ;  but  in  their  points  of  contact,  sacred  tradition 
and  science  nowhere  contradict  each  9ther. "  Let  there 
then  be  no  longer  this  jealous  and  unreasonable  antag- 
onism between  theology  and  science  ;  where  they  move 
in  the  same  planes  they  must  necessarily  harmonize,  and 
where  they  move  in  different  planes  they  need  not  come 
into  collision  ;  for  they  are  no  more  essentially  opposed 
to  each  other  than  sky  and  earth — than  those  mysterious 
celestial  orbs,  which  roll  in  space  and  light  the  darkness, 
are  opposed  to  the  movement  and  welfare  of  our  own 
terrestrial  system. 

But  the  Christian  pastor,  while  culpable  if  he  is  not  an 
intelligent  and  studious  man,  and  if  he  does  not  strive, 
as  far  as  his  means  allow  him,  to  keep  himself,  in  some 
sense,  abreast  of  the  scientific  progress  of  the  age,  should, 
at  the  same  time,  earnestly  keep  himself  in  the  super- 
natural sphere  of  faith,  and  not  come  down  entirely  to 
the  level  of  human  science,  seeing  that,  by  doing  so,  he 
yields  too  much  ;  he  loses  his  hold  of  the  true  overcom- 
ing power — the  power  that  is  stronger  than  knowledge. 
By  maintaining  his  hold  of  the  supernatural  he  maintains 
his  superiority  to  scepticism,  which,  though  it  may  claim 
to  be  theistic,  and  even  Christian,  is  often,  in  its  essence, 
thoroughly  material,  dwelling  in  psychic  force  merely, 
denying  spirit  and  the  spirituality  and  personality  of  God. 

The  pastor,  as  a  practical  matter,  will  find  a  class  of 
persons  in  his  congregation  who  may  be  called  "natural 


THE   PASTOR' S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  441 

unbelievers  ;"  who  will  always  see  the  objections  to  a 
truth  before  they  see  the  reasons  for  it  ;  who  are  mor- 
bidly cautious  in  arriving  at  a  conclusion  ;  who  are  ever 
striving,  but  never  able,  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
truth  ;  who  are  men  of  little  imagination  and  power  of 
vivid  feeling,  though  by  no  means  lacking  in  kind  feeling 
or  uprightness  of  character.  They  may  be  good  fathers, 
brothers,  sons.  Such  persons  are  not  always  to  be 
reached  by  direct  assaults  ;  they  are  cool  fencers,  and  are 
not  to  be  overcome  by  off-hand  argument.  They  receive 
nothing  upon  authority,  but  must  come  to  the  truth,  if  at 
all,  through  their  own  mental  convictions.  This  is  a  type 
of  mind  not  uncommon  in  New  England,  and  should  be 
wisely  and  thoughtfully  treated.  Often  pure  reasoning, 
the  wrestling  of  mind  with  mind,  the  meeting  of  argu- 
ment with  argument,  the  vigorous  wielding  of  logic  and 
learning,  giving  blow  for  blow,  is  the  best  method  of  pro- 
cedure with  such  minds.  There  is  a  vast  deal  of  infidelity 
which  cannot  stand  an  instant  before  bold  and  skilful 
argument.  But,  in  most  cases,  having  obtained  the 
good-will  and  personal  respect  of  such  a  man,  having 
fallen  into  terms  of  easy  fellowship  with  him,  the  pastor 
should  strive  to  find  out  the  true  source  of  his  disbelief, 
if  it  is  in  some  sense  constitutional,  or  the  result  of 
ignorance,  or  the  fruit  of  wilful  opposition  and 
depravity.  It  will  be  generally  discovered  that  there  is 
much  absolute  ignorance  of  religious  things,  and  of  the 
Scriptures  even,  in  the  most  intellectual  unbeliever,  and 
that  the  habit  of  doubting  has  kept  the  light  from  his 
mind,  and  his  mind  from  the  light.  It  is  always  well,  as 
a  friend,  to  request  such  a  person  to  read  the  New  Testa- 
ment carefully  through,  book  by  book,  leaving  him 
entirely  to  himself  and  to  the  influences  of  the  Spirit  of 
God.      Often  the  intellectual  conversion,  at  least,  of  such 


442  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

a  mind,  if  not  his  real  salvation,  will  be  the  result  of  this 
simple  but  profound  remedy. 

Unbelief,  however,  lies  more  commonly  in  the  moral 
than  intellectual  nature  ;  and  every  man,  if  he  will,  can 
believe,  else  there  would  be  no  responsibility  to  believe, 
else  faith  would  not  be  a  universal  obligation  ;  and  thus 
the  unbeliever  should  be  led  to  see  that  faith  does  not 
lie  altogether  in  the  sphere  of  reason  ;  that  it  is  a  more 
inward  sense  and  spiritual  perception  of  truth,  and  that 
God  and  eternal  things  cannot  be  entirely  comprehended 
by  the  intellect,  or  by  the  logical  understanding,  so  that 
the  higher  rational  and  spiritual  nature  maybe  awakened, 
and  the  need  of  God  felt.  Moral  insensibility  is  wrong 
as  well  as  perilous.  It  is  a  disease,  for  which,  neverthe- 
less, the  soul  is  responsible.  It  shows  itself  in  that  apathy 
in  regard  to  the  truth  which  the  Scriptures  describe  when 
they  say  of  a  heart  that  it  has  "waxed  gross."  This 
gross  overlaying  of  moral  indifference  should  be  cut 
through  to  the  quick,  so  that  the  vital  nerve,  the  reality 
of  religious  things,  should  be  once  more  felt,  else  the 
spiritual  life  utterly  dies.  We  cannot  err  here.  Every 
soul  needs  God  for  its  knowledge,  true  life,  and  peace. 

One  sometimes,  however,  though  rarely,  meets  with  a 
mind  in  which  the  very  capacity  of  faith  seems  to  be 
wanting,  the  foundations  of  belief  to  be  gone.  This  is 
the  legitimate  and  terrible  consequence  of  a  man's  having 
deliberately  adopted  some  material  theory  and  of  his 
carrying  it  out  to  its  boldest  logical  results.  Such  a 
mind  comes  at  length  into  a  condition  which  we  conceive 
to  be,  or  to  have  become,  absolutely  diseased,  although  it 
is  still  responsible  for  having  brought  itself  into  this 
deplorable  state  ;  and  such  a  mind  should  be  treated,  in 
some  sense,  as  a  diseased  mind  ;  for  faith  is  the  normal 
and  sound  condition  of  the   mind.      The  feeblest  srerm  of 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  443 

faith  in  such  a  mind,  of  behef  in  anything,  in  goodness, 
in  man,  in  affection,  in  patriotism,  in  outward  nature,  in 
Hterature,  in  art,  in  business,  should  be  carefully  nursed, 
and  thus  it  may  be  gradually  drawn  or  impelled  to  a  faith 
in  higher -things.  Christ  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every 
man  that  cometh  into  the  world,  and  we,  ourselves, 
should  have  a  practical,  unswerving  faith  in  that  truth. 

But  that  class  of  intellectual  opposers  and  unbelievers 
is  small  in  comparison  with  that  great  common  class  of 
what  the  Scriptures  set  forth  as  impenitent  unbelievers, 
to  which  these  and  many  more  belong,  who  are  as  yet  in 
an  unconverted  state,  who  are  untouched  by  the  power  of 
divine  truth,  and  who  are,  apparently,  "  without  hope 
and  without  God  in  the  world."  In  treating  such  souls, 
the  pastor,  whether  in  the  pulpit  or  out  of  it,  is  called 
upon  to  preach  the  truth  plainly  ;  and,  as  one  of  the 
most  effectual  means  of  awakening  unspiritual  minds  to  a 
consciousness  of  their  state,  he  should  present  the  claims 
of  the  righteous  law — he  should  preach  to  the  conscience. 
It  was  the  apostolic  method  to  lay  open  to  sinful  men  the 
purity,  perfection,  and  spirituality  of  the  law,  written  not 
only  in  the  Word,  but  "  on  the  fleshly  tablets  of  the 
heart,"  and  the  nature  of  the  law's  transgression,  which 
is.  sin  ;  for  the  law  comes,  in  the  order  of  time,  if  not  in 
the  order  of  conscious  experience,  before  the  gospel — 
repentance  before  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  great 
overwhelming  sense  of  the  disapproval  of  God  should  be 
aroused — of  God  present  with  the  soul,  looking  on  the 
soul,  judging  the  soul,  showing  it  in  the  clear  light  of 
eternity,  its  perverse  contradiction  of  the  righteous  law 
in  its  own  nature,  forcing  it  to  pronounce  self-condemna- 
tion. A  true  sense  of  sin  is  to  be  awakened  ;  and  it  is 
an  act  of  love  to  convince  the  sinner  of  his  sin,  of  his 
want    of   holy   love   toward   God,  and   of  his  selfishness 


444  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

toward  man  ;  and  then,  through  the  law,  he  may  be  led 
to  feel  the  need  of  Christ  as  a  divine  Redeemer.  Im- 
penitence, in  a  Christian  light,  is  a  deliberate  self-surren- 
der to  the  power  of  unrighteousness,  a  trampling  under 
foot  of  the  mind's  better  instincts,  and  a  contemptuous 
casting  off  the  claims  and  mercies  of  God  as  manifested 
in  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  This  leads  to  that  moral  insen- 
sibility of  which  we  have  already  spoken,  and  from  which 
a  soul  must  be  awaked  at  any  cost,  as  one  would  smite  a 
brother  to  the  ground  with  a  violent  blow  to  save  him 
from  a  deadly  missile.  The  preacher  should  therefore 
set  forth  plainly  the  nature  of  sin  and  its  terrible  conse- 
quences, for  in  the  very  nature  of  sin  is  contained  its 
punishment.  "  If  a  man  could  only  understand  the  un- 
speakable heinousness  of  sin  he  would  sooner  plunge  into 
a  fiery  furnace  than  commit  a  single  sin."  Sin  is  the 
only  real  evil.  It  is  not  only  an  act  but  a  state  which  leads 
to  every  wrong  action.  It  may,  indeed,  "  be  considered  in 
three  grand  aspects — as,  first,  a  transgression  of  the  law  ; 
second,  as  the  spirit  of  disobedience  to  God  ;  third,  as 
the  manifestation  of  an  inner  principle  of  self-seeking  (self- 
ishness)." Mr.  Upham  says  that  "  sin,  no  matter  how 
small  in  the  beginning,  touches,  by  way  of  opposition  and 
conflict,  every  attribute  of  the  divine  character  ;  and  the 
idea  that  God  hates,  punishes  even  the  love  of  sin,  as 
itself  a  sin,  is  the  germ  of  all  higher  spiritual  life.  Thus 
duty  becomes  an  infinite  thing,  and  sin  also  an  infinite 
thing."  The  pastor  should  therefore  address  strong, 
clear,  pungent  words  to  the  moral  sense  of  the  impeni- 
tent ;  not  merely  sensational  and  terrifying  words,  but 
words  that  touch  the  conscience,  that  move  the  inner- 
most mind,  and  that,  by  the  grace  of  God,  lead  a  man 
who  is  in  a  state  of  sin  to  smite  upon  his  breast,  and  cry, 
"  Unclean,  unclean  ;   God   be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner  !" 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  445 

He  should  specialize  and  make  men  feel  their  own  per- 
sonal and  particular  sins  ;  and  he  should  preach  on  sins 
as  well  as  sin — not  sin  in  the  abstract,  but  in  the  con- 
crete. The  impenitent  should  be  led  to  see  that  Omnip- 
otence cannot  save  a  man  who  wilfully  remains  in  his 
sins  ;  but  that  while  he  thus  consciously  continues  in  sin, 
chooses  sin,  prefers  sin,  he  is  "  condemned  already." 

The  soul  that  is  wholly  destitute  of  the  love  of  God  is 
thereby,  in  the  nature  of  things,  prevented  from  coming 
to  God,  and  from  knowing  and  enjoying  him  ;  and  it  is, 
in  fact,  "  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sins,"  But  the  truth 
that  such  a  soul  is  capable  of  recovery,  that  God  loves  it, 
and  would  have  every  man  repent  and  live,  that  sin  itself 
is  a  strange,  unnatural,  and  abnormal  thing,  contrary  to 
man's  true  nature  and  having  nothing  to  do  with  it, 
should  lead  the  pastor,  in  the  spirit  of  Christ,  to  seek  out 
the  impenitent  soul,  for  he  cannot  expect  that  the  im- 
penitent soul  will  seek  him.  He  should  search  for  the 
erring  soul  in  its  deepest  refuges,  delusions,  and  hiding- 
places.  The  true  pastor's  faith  and  hope  in  regard  to 
every  soul  are  invincible.  Some  souls  must  be  plucked 
"  as  brands  from  the  burning" — as  one,  at  personal  risk, 
enters  a  burning  house  amid  fire  and  smoke  in  order  to 
save  life.      Love  is  bold. 

2,   The  inquirer. 

We  shall  discuss,  under  a  separate  head,  the  interesting 

theme   of   revivals   of   religion,    which   are,    if   pure    and 

spiritual,  not  onlv  scriptural,  but,  as  may  be 

,  ,  .,    '         .  .,  1  .      1  1  The  inquirer, 

shown,   beautitully  philosophical  ;     and    we 

must  now  content  ourselves  with  briefly  describing  one 
soul  who  is  moved  upon  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  making 
it  to  stand  as  a  type  of  that  class  which,  seen  in  wide- 
spread reformatory  movements  of  the  Spirit  upon  men's 


446  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

minds,  presents  features  often  in  the  highest  degree 
grand  and  impressive.  We  will,  however,  here  remark 
in  respect  of  religious  revivals  in  America,  that,  from  the 
earliest  times  a  more  simple  and  primitive  state  of 
society  in  this  country,  the  predominance  of  the  demo- 
cratic element,  the  absence  of  caste  and  hierarchical  forms 
of  Church  government,  have  enabled  religious  feeling  to 
flow  from  heart  to  heart,  and  have  thus  been  favorable  to 
revivals  of  religion.  We  should  expect  revivals  to  take 
place  in  America  more  readily  than  in  the  Old  World. 
Our  ancestors,  having  come  to  these  shores  for  the 
truth's  sake,  regarded  truth  with  supreme  devotion.  It 
was  the  chief  concern  with  them  to  know  and  obey  the 
truth.  The  Bible  was  their  constant  study.  In  addition 
to  that,  our  fathers  had  a  peculiar  and  almost  apostolic 
reliance  upon  the  power  of  prayer.  They  believed  in 
direct  answers  to  prayer.  Everything  was  brought  to 
God.  They  went  to  him  in  undoubted  faith,  as  to  a 
Ruler  and  Father,  for  all  questions  that  regarded  the 
state  and  the  family,  but  above  all  for  those  things  that 
pertain  to  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ. 
Those  principles  continue  to  be  strong  in  the  minds  of 
their  descendants,  and  therefore  we  should  expect  that 
the  gospel  in  this  free  land  would  have  its  primitive 
revival  power.  Old  ecclesiastical  forms  are  done  away, 
the  stratifications  of  society  are  broken  up,  rigid  theolog- 
ical philosophies  have  a  constantly  diminishing  force  ; 
there  is  still,  however,  a  stir  and  deep  activity  of  mind 
on  religious  questions,  and  the  heart  comes  freshly  in 
contact  with  truth.  We  should  expect,  therefore,  in  the 
future,  a  development  of  power  from  the  gospel  even 
greater  than  in  the  past,  as  this  vital  contact  of  truth 
with  the  human  heart  becomes  more  unobstructed,  as  the 
nature  and  love  of  God  in  the  gospel  are  better  under- 


THE   rASTOK'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  447 

stood,  as  Christ  is  made  the  central  source  of  spiritual 
life,  and  as  the  truth  of  the  work  and  ministry  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  are  more  profoundly  believed  and  appre- 
ciated. Let  us  labor  for  such  revivals  ;  and  yet  let  us 
not  strive  for  the  direct  end  of  these,  but  rather  for  sav- 
ing men  from  the  power  of  sin  and  increasing  the  love  of 
God  in  their  hearts,  and  thus  labor  for  revivals  of  re- 
ligious life  as  the  natural  harvests  of  good  husbandry. 
There  are  pastors  whose  ministries  may  be  called  per- 
petual revivals,  deep,  quiet,  simple,  in  which  souls  are 
continually  born  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  without 
special  excitement  or  display  of  means.  This  natural 
kind  of  revival,  without  spasmodic  effort,  or  extraordi- 
nary manifestations,  is  the  best  ;  it  is  a  harmonious  co- 
operation with  the  Spirit  of  God,  bringing  new  life  into 
a  church  and  people,  and  producing  fruit  as  in  a  field,  in 
its  own  order  and  season. 

But  to  proceed  with  the  theme  in  hand.  It  may  be 
laid  down  as  a  starting-point,  that  under  the  Christian 
system,  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  the  source  and  divine 
fount  of  all  true  spiritual  life  ;  that  "  in  him  we  have 
redemption  ;*'  that  in  him  dwell  the  springs  of  renew- 
ing power  ;  and  that  it  is  by  coming  to  him  through 
faith,  or  by  a  believing  union  with  him,  a  soul  obtains 
forgiveness  of  sins  and  eternal  life.  "  And  this  is  the 
record  that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  this  life 
is  in  his  Son."  "  Through  him  we  both  have  access  by 
one  spirit  unto  the  Father."  "  He  that  hath  the  Son 
hath  life,  and  he  that  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  life,  but 
the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him."  The  Incarnation  is 
the  central  truth  of  the  Christian  system  of  salvation  ;  it 
is  the  Son  who  reveals  to  us  the  Father,  makes  the  invisi- 
ble visible,  and  the  inaccessible  accessible,  brings  God 
near  to  us,  manifests  His  inmost  and  deepest  nature,  and 


448  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

forms  the  divine  "  way,  and  truth,  and  life  ;"  so  that  by  a 
personal  spiritual  union  with  Christ  by  faith,  or  by  receiv- 
ing him  in  all  his  relations  to  us  as  Redeemer,  Teacher, 
and  Lord,  the  soul  truly  joins  itself  to  God,  and  finds 
pardon  and  new  life.  "  Christ  also  hath  once  suffered  for 
sins,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to 
God."  Whether  this  mystery  of  the  redeeming  grace  of 
God  in  Christ  is  considered  to  be  explicable  or  not, 
Christ  is  the  door  that  ojDens  to  everything  in  the 
spiritual  life,  to  all  its  hopes  ;  he  is  set  before  us  as  the 
open  way  by  which  a  sinful  man  may  come  to  God,  and 
receive  entire  justification,  and  begin  a  truly  good  and 
righteous  life. 

In  respect  to  this  way  of  coming  to  Christ  in  order  to 
be  saved  there  may  be  difficulty  when  we  attempt  to 
theologize  upon  it,  but  the  fact  itself,  in  personal  experi- 
ence, is  generally  a  simple  one.  There  is  at  the  present 
time,  in  much  of  the  preaching,  and  especially  of  what  is 
called  the  revival  preaching  of  the  day,  a  setting  forth  of 
the  method  of  salvation  through  Christ  as  a  process  of 
spontaneous  choice,  of  beginning  at  once  to  love  him  and 
to  take  up  his  service,  saying,  "  Saviour,  I  mean  to  walk 
in  the  way  of  thine  appointing — I  accept  thy  yoke  even 
if  it  bring  me  trouble  and  suffering,"  thus  coming  ear- 
nestly and  with  the  whole  heart  to  Christ,  not  as  to  an  his- 
toric personage  by  the  acceptance  of  a  creed,  or  by  a 
process  of  speculative  reason,  but  by  the  spontaneous  act 
of  the  heart  and  the  honest  surrender  of  the  life  to 
him  as  the  soul's  Lord.  In  this  way  purity  and  peace 
are  at  once  secured.  Evangelical  as  this  maybe  in  many 
of  its  aspects,  whether  this  be  all,  is  a  question.  It 
would  seem  to  lack  some  important  elements  of  redemp- 
tion— the  true  consciousness  or  conviction  of  sin,  the  draw- 
ing power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  forgiveness  that  comes 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  449 

by  a  distinctive  faith  in  Christ's  atoning  work.  Still,  in 
whatever  manner  we  may  explain  the  method  of  draw- 
ing nigh  to  the  Saviour,  there  is  the  great  fact  that  the 
sinful  soul  must  come  to  Christ  for  eternal  life,  must  be- 
lieve in  that  personal  Saviour  who,  by  his  spiritual  attrac- 
tions, is  able  to  win  the  confidence  of  the  most  sinful  soul 
so  that  it  shall  put  all  its  interests  in  his  hands,  and  re- 
ceive by  this  self-surrender  and  this  contact  with  the  all- 
pure  a  new  moral  being.  There  must  be  this  justifying 
faith  whose  central  object  is  Christ  ;  there  must  be  a 
concurrence  of  the  reason,  the  desires,  and  the  affections 
in  resting  upon  Christ  by  faith  for  eternal  life.  Christ 
ever  stands  ready  to  give  confidence  to  the  seeker  after 
righteousness,  and  to  bless  and  save  the  spirit  which  will 
open  itself  for  him  to  enter  in  and  take  entire  possession 
of  it.  "  Behold,  I  stand  at  the  door,  and  knock  ;  if  any 
man  hear  my  voice,  and  open  the  door,  I  will  come  in  to 
him,  and  will  sup  with  him,  and  he  with  me." 

We  may  suppose,  then,  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  touched 
a  soul,  has,  through  the  power  of  the  truth,  led  the  im- 
penitent soul  to  see  its  sins  in  the  light  of  a  spiritual  law, 
the  law  of  perfect  right  whose  ideal  is  set  in  its  own  na- 
ture, and  to  feel  its  need  of  higher  help  ;  to  be  sincerely 
inquiring  the  way  of  life  ;  to  be  earnestly  seeking  the 
salvation  of  God. 

Why  does  not  this  soul  at  once  find  Christ  the  present 
.Redeemer,  who  is  nigh  to  every  one  who  will  call  upon 
him,  and  by  simple  faith  lay  hold  upon  this  new  life 
promised  in  the  gospel  ?  Why  does  it  not  obey  the  in- 
vitation of  the  gospel,  for  by  coming  to  Christ  one  comes 
to  God,  who  alone  has,  and  can  give,  righteousness.''  To 
restore  man  to  a  divine  knowledge,  sympathy,  and 
righteous  life,  is  the  great  aim  of  the  gospel.  The  door 
is  open,  the  way  is  straight  ;  what  hinders  the  soul  from 


45° 


PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 


entering  in  and  finding  peace  ?  We  can  only  answer,  its 
own  self-delusions,  hinderances,  and  difficulties — in  a 
word,  its  real  unbelief. 

One  of  the  most  common  of  these  difficulties,  which  can 
be  traced  to  the  root  of  unbelief  in  the  mind  of  the 
inquirer,  arises — 

{a)  From  a  captious,  rather  than  true  thinking,  on  spir- 
itual things.      Through  a  questioning  and  ar- 

Difficulties  of  ,    , .  ti  ^.t  •        i  i.   i.  r 

crumentative    rather    than    simple    state    ot 
inquirers.       ° 

mind,  one  who  is  truly  awakened   may  rush, 

by  a  kind  of  fatality,  upon  the  metaphysical  diffi- 
culties of  spiritual  truth.  It  might  be  laid  down  at 
the  beginning,  that  there  could  not  be  a  true  religion 
which  is  entirely  comprehensible,  or  without  the  possi- 
bility of  awakening  doubts  ;  for  no  true  religion  is  con- 
ceivable which  does  not  involve  a  conflict  with  the 
finiteness  of  the  human  intellect  ;  and  in  dealing  with 
God,  we  come  to  a  point  where  we  must  plunge  into 
the  abyss  of  the  unknown  ;  the  finite  must  depend 
upon  the  infinite,  for  "  in  him  we  live,  and  move,  and 
have  our  being."  Man  is  incomplete  without  God; 
his  powers  are  made  for  their  proper  and  highest  exer- 
cise in  and  for  God,  and  so  also  are  his  affections. 
This  is  the  standpoint  of  philosophy  as  well  as  of 
revelation.  Reason  tells  us  that  a  man  separated  from 
God  by  his  sins  must  be  reunited  to  and  live  in  him  and 
for  him,  morally  and  spiritually,  in  order  to  be  perfect. 
But  instead  of  walking  in  the  path  of  a  reasonable  faith 
clearly  pointed  out  to  him,  the  inquirer  enters  into  ques- 
tionings and  devious  paths.  He  gets  entangled  in  diffi- 
culties respecting  the  method  of  conversion — in  the 
divine  and  human  agencies  that  are  concerned  in  it.  If 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  the  author  of  regeneration,  he  con- 
ceives that  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  obey  the  command 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  451 

to  believe  and  go  to  Christ.  It  is  true  that  God  alone 
has  power  to  convert  a  soul  ;  that  so  deadened  is  the  will 
by  sin,  that  the  creative  power  of  God  must  infuse  new 
life  into  our  spiritual  powers  ;  but  God  "  commandeth 
all  men  everywhere  to  repent,"  and  calls  on  all  to  believe 
in  him  whom  he  has  sent  ;  and  though  we  cannot  make ' 
ourselves  independent  of  God  in  any  act,  in  the  least  act, 
so  in  the  greatest  act,  to  turn  from  the  service  of  sin  to 
the  service  of  God,  we  cannot  act  without  God  ;  yet  if  a 
mind  will  simply  seek  to  obey  God,  God  will  co-operate 
with  his  endeavor,  and  give  him  all  needed  assistance. 
Coming  to  Christ  in  the  way  of  his  freedom,  he  will  have 
the  divine  Spirit  to  help  him  to  come  ;  but  consciously 
and  deliberately  refusing  to  obey  God,  he  will  not  attain 
unto  him  ;  for  God  will  surely  never  use  his  power  to 
force  him  to  obey,  since  the  Holy  Spirit  is  a  persuasive 
influence,  and  works  in  accordance  with  moral  law,  and  in 
the  way  of  our  perfect  freedom,  even,  to  represent  it 
feebly,  as  one  mind  works  upon  another. 

As  to  the  philosophy  of  conversion,  there  may  be  differ- 
ences of  opinion  according  to  the  theories  of  different 
schools  of  theology  ;  but  if  we  should  ask  where  is  the  real 
power  of  a  new  life  and  righteousness  to  the  sinful  soul, 
where  is  the  primary  act,  or  originating  motive-power,  of 
conversion,  we  need  not,  and  should  not  for  a  moment 
consent  to  the  stultification  of  moral  freedom  ;  we  are 
free  to  choose  eternal  salvation.  It  is  held  out  to  us  in 
Christ  :  will  we  grasp  it  or  lose  it  ?  Man  should  not  wait 
passively  for  God  to  convert  him,  as  if  he  had  no  kind  of 
power  of  his  own,  and,  in  this  event,  no  kind  of  responsi- 
bility ;  for  he  is  urged,  nay  commanded,  to  repent,  to 
believe,  to  seek  Christ  and  enter  by  storm  his  heavenly 
kingdom.  The  theology  of  utter  passivity  is  the 
theology    of   death  ;  the    theology    of    freedom    is    the 


452  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

theology  of  the  world's  regeneration.  Thank  God  we 
are  Christians  and  not  Turks.  Yet,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  equally  true  that  nothing  can  be  done  without 
God's  presence,  aid,  and  power.  All  actual  life  comes 
from  the  creative  breath  of  God.  "  Without  me  ye  can 
do  nothing."  Faith  itself  is  "  the  gift  of  God."  "  It  is 
not  of  him  thatwilleth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy." 
"Ye  must  be  born,  again."  "Nor  of  the  will  of  the 
flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  God."  It  is  a 
matter  of  universal  consciousness  that  our  human  resolu- 
tion, or  human  will,  broken  in  an  hour,  is  not  enough  for 
the  great  act  of  conversion  which  changes  character  and 
destiny — that  "  in  us,  that  is  in  our  sinful  flesh,  dwelleth 
no  good  thing" — that  life,  physical  and  spiritual,  is  from 
above,  and  that  new  holy  life  cannot  be  self-originated  in 
a  nature  dead  in  sin.  We  feel  that  in  so  great  a  thing  as 
conv^ersion,  there  must  be  power  from  a  divine  source. 
Therefore  we  are  not  inclined  to  say  to  a  man,  "  You  can 
be  a  Christian  as  easily  as  )^ou  can  turn  over  your  hand — 
you  have  but  to  will  to  be  one  and  you  are  one — you  can 
join  the  kingdom  of  heaven  as  readily  as  you  can  join  a 
social  club — it  depends  entirely  upon  yourself." 

While  a  free,  self-determining  will  is  the  highest  gift  of 
the  natural  man  and  the  ground  of  his  responsibility,  yet 
on  account  of  our  sin-weakened  condition  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  is  also  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  or  Christ  present  and 
working,  is  everywhere  in  the  world,  in  every  man,  seek- 
ing to  aid  our  spiritual  welfare.  Preachers  are  but  the 
human  media  of  the  divine  Spirit  who  is  seeking  to  save 
men  and  do  them  good.  In  varied,  gentle,  forceful, 
natural,  we  might  almost  say  through  hidden  ways,  Christ 
is  always  pleading  with  men,  attracting,  drawing  them  to 
a  higher  and  purer  life.  He  is  the  light  that  lighteth 
every  man  ;  he  shines  into  the  darkness  of  every  soul  ; 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  453 

he  strives  in  every  soul  ;  he  forgets  none  ;  he  is  working 
for  every  one  in  every  good  influence  and  often  with  ex- 
traordinary energy  and  directness.  He  actually  is  the 
One  who  convinces  men  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of 
judgment,  and  v/ho  brings  home  to  the  heart  the  truth, 
the  preached  truth,  with  a  converting  power,  awakening 
in  the  sinful  heart  the  new  disposition  to  listen  to  the  truth 
and  to  obey  it.  Therefore  the  Holy  Spirit  is  primary 
in  conversion,  and  whenever  the  human  soul  responds 
willingly  and  freely  to  this  call  of  Christ,  acknowledges 
its  sin  and  puts  faith  in  him  who  is  revealed  to  be  the 
Saviour  from  sin — whenever  the  finite  will  is  changed  by, 
and  voluntarily  adopts  as  its  own,  the  will  of  the  Infinite, 
then  "  the  union-point  is  reached,  and  man  turns  to  God 
and  lives."  It  is  no  trivial  and  common  crisis.  It  is  the 
turning-point  of  the  life  of  the  soul — God  and  man  are 
involved  in  it.  The  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  felt 
imperially,  supremely,  in  it.  Then  even  a  silent  assent 
may  be  enough,  because  this  denotes  the  inward  yielding 
of  the  human  to  the  divine  will.  Thus  God  works  in 
man  and  man  with  God  ;  God  draws  and  man  obeys  the 
attraction.  Actual  conversion,  if  we  err  not,  consists  in 
the  consentaneous  and  free  action  of  the  divine  and 
human  wills  in  the  moment  of  the  moral  change  ;  and  the 
change  itself  is  the  iuAvard  change  in  the  ruling  love,  the 
supreme  purpose  and  affection  of  the  mind,  being  turned 
from  the  natural  love  of  self  and  sin  to  the  love  of  God 
and  all  that  is  holy,  pure,  and  good. 

Granted,  then,  the  weakness  of  our  sin-corrupted 
nature  to  throw  off  sin  and  come  to  God — to  God  in 
Christ — yet  God  has  promised  to  be  with  every  sincere 
inquirer  of  the  way  of  life,  every  true  seeker,  every  one 
who  will  honestly  receive  the  truth.  God  may  be  thus 
said  to  be  always  striving  with  man's  spirit  to  lead  it  to 


454  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Christ.  True  theology  begins  in  God,  not  in  man.  The 
necessity,  or  rather  truth  of  the  divine  influence  has 
reference  not  to  ourselves  as  moral  agents,  as  beings 
gifted  with  moral  freedom,  but  as  having  susceptibilities 
which  are  strongly  and  fatally  prepensed  to  wrong.  The 
aid  of  the  Spirit  is  a  gracious  one,  while  at  the  same 
time  it  is  necessary.  It  is  an  influence  universally  felt 
among  heathens  as  among  Christians.  Wherever  man  is, 
there  God  works  by  his  loving  Spirit  in  man's  heart. 
Even  as  the  Spirit  of  God  is,  in  one  sense,  diffused 
throughout  the  works  of  the  natural  creation  in  every 
tree,  plant,  and  organized  existence,  producing  and  sus- 
taining life,  so  his  living  Spirit  is  everywhere  present, 
working  in  his  spiritual  creation,  and  in  all  hearts.  We 
should  not  doubt  the  presence  of  the  divine  Spirit  in  any 
man's  soul  ;  and  the  fact  of  one's  being  an  inquirer  after 
divine  things,  is  proof  sufificient  of  the  active  presence  of 
the  inworking  Spirit  in  the  heart  ;  and  the  pastor  should 
say  that  to  the  inquirer,  and  should  tell  him  that  he  has 
but  to  follow  those  higher  promptings  and  they  will 
surely  lead  him  to  Christ  ;  for  this  is  the  result,  which, 
above  all  others,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  striving  to  bring 
about,  and  would  not  strive  were  men  entirely  willing. 
How  can  it  then  be  conceived,  except  by  the  ingenious- 
ness  of  a  self-deceiving  mind,  that  the  renovating  Spirit, 
sent  expressly  by  God  to  draw  to  Christ,  is  an  obstacle 
to  any  man's  coming  to  Christ  ?  There  must  be  some 
other  obstacle.  If  a  man  is  but  willing  to  come,  and  will 
come,  he  has  all  the  power  of  God  to  help  him  to  come. 
In  regard  to  the  doctrine  of  Election,  which  is  in- 
volved in  this  difificulty  respecting  the  Holy  Spirit's 
operations,  it  does  not  present,  at  the  present  day, 
so  common  an  obstacle  as  it  did  formerly  with  those 
educated     under    the    intensely    doctrinal     preaching    of 


THE  PASTOR'S    CARE    OF   SOULS.  455 

New  England,  and  we  will  not  dwell  upon  it.  It 
offers  no  difficulty  when  rightly  viewed  ;  and  surely  this 
profound  New  Testament  doctrine  should  not  be  given 
up  through  a  weak  sympathy  ;  for,  intelligently  re- 
garded, it  is  a  glorious  doctrine  ;  in  fact,  the  foundation 
of  Christian  hope,  and  it  tends  to  produce  both  humility 
and  hope.  In  the  words  of  the  apostle,  "  Blessed  be  the 
God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath 
blessed  us  with  all  spiritual  blessings  in  heavenly  places 
in  Christ  Jesus,  according  as  he  hath  chosen  us  in  him 
before  the  foundation  of  the  world."  Dr.  Chalmers  was 
accustomed  to  say  that  "  he  was,  with  Jonathan  Edwards, 
a  necessitarian  ;"  but  he  added,  "  I  would  always  wish 
to  be  borne  in  mind  a  saying  of  Bishop  Butler,  that  we 
have  not  so  much  to  inquire  what  God  does,  as  what  are 
the  duties  that  we  owe  to  him  ;"  and  thus  the  pastor 
should  teach  this  doctrine  practically,  in  connection  with 
our  obligations  to  God,  in  connection  with  Christ,  and  in 
relation  to  the  whole  scope  and  freedom  of  the  gospel, 
addressed  as  it  is  sincerely  to  ev^ery  soul  for  whom  Christ 
died  ;  and  that  is  the  way  the  apostle  Paul  originally 
taught  it,  who  was  proving  to  the  Jews  that  they  were 
not  alone  the  elect  people  of  God,  but  that  all  who  are 
in  Christ — the  children  of  Abraham  by  faith — are  truly 
chosen  unto  eternal  life,  are  the  elect  people  of  God  ;  they 
are  those  "  who  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life," 
who  are  saved  by  his  work  and  mediation.  God  is 
blessedly  sovereign  in  spiritual  things  ;  but  it  is  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Father,  in  connection  with  the  love 
of  the  Son,  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit. 

We  cannot  know  the  secret  history  of  a  single  soul, 
and  the  foundations  of  its  responsibility  are  lost  to  our 
view  ;  and  how  much  less  can  we  know  the  deep 
counsels   of  God  and   the   grounds   of  his  action  toward 


456  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

any  soul,  excepting  that  we  have  a  general  belief  in  the 
perfect  goodness  and  justice  of  all  that  he  does  ;  we 
should,  therefore,  teach  this  doctrine  in  connection  with 
the  free  and  sincere  invitations  of  the  gospel,  interpret- 
ing God  by  himself.  We  should  avoid  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, in  our  dealing  with  inquiring  souls,  the  speculative 
side  of  truth,  and  of  this  truth  ;  for  on  its  practical  side 
there  is  no  difificulty.  This  doctrine  is  really  for  the 
mature  Christian  to  contemplate,  and  the  simple  inquirer 
cannot  possibly  have  the  same  comprehension  of  it,  or 
sympathy  with  it  ;  when  he  grows  into  the  spiritual 
stature  of  the  apostle,  he  will  love  this  truth,  and  find  in 
its  greatest  difHculties  his  highest  places  of  satisfaction 
and  delight.  Connected  with  this  whole  matter  in  rela- 
tion to  the  speculative  difficulties  of  the  inquirer  is  the 
common  and  practical  one  in  regard  to  prayer.  The 
awakened  man  sometimes  says  :  "  I  have  still  a  corrupt 
heart,  and  my  prayer  is  therefore  abominable  to  the 
Lord.  I  cannot  pray  to  him  to  help  and  save  me.  He 
will  not  hear  the  prayer  of  the  wicked."  It  is  true  that 
God  is  not  pleased  with  an  insincere,  hypocritical,  wicked 
prayer  ;  but  the  remedy  is  to  pray  with  a  sincere  and 
contrite  heart  on  account  of  sin,  confessing  the  sin, 
deploring  it,  and  acknowledging  the  need  of  Christ  to 
take  it  away.  God  does  not  say  how  much  faith,  or  how 
much  contrition,  are  required  for  prayer  to  be  heard  and 
answered,  it  may  be  that  if  as  a  grain  of  mustard-seed,  it 
is  enough.  The  sinner  surely  cannot  plead  a  wicked 
heart  itself  as  an  excuse  for  neglecting  prayer.  His  own 
reason  should  teach  him  the  invalidity  of  such  an  excuse. 
The  prayer  of  the  publican  was  commended  by  the  Lord. 
God  commands  us  to  love  him.  Would  it  be  an  excuse  for 
any  one  to  say,  "  I  cannot  love  God  because  my  heart  is 
too  wicked  "?     Let  him  confess  humbly  the  wickedness 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  457 

and  ask  God  to  make  him  a  new  heart.  It  is  not  written 
that  "  the  prayer  of  the  wicked,"  etc. — but  "  the  sacrifice 
of  the  wicked" — "  the  way  of  the  wicked" — "  the  thought 
of  the  wicked" — is  unacceptable  to  God.  "  He  that 
turneth  away  his  ear  from  hearing  the  law,  even  his 
prayer  shall  be  an  abomination,"  that  is  quite  a  different 
thing  from  the  usual  idea  attached  to  the  passage.  If  a 
man  sincerely  desires  to  receive  a  good  gift,  especially  a 
spiritual  gift,  from  the  Lord,  all  that  he  has  to  do  is  to 
ask  for  it,  and  he  shall  obtain  it. 

ib)  From  wishing  to  know  more  of  spiritual  things 
before  coming  to  Christ.  This  belongs  to  the  same  class 
of  obstacles  and  mental  hinderances  as  the  previous  dififi^ 
culty.  The  inquirer  desires  to  know  more  about  the  un- 
seen world  of  faith,  and  to  act  intelligently.  He  is  not 
yet  clear  upon  all  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  ;  how  can 
he  then  become  a  Christian  ?  It  is,  indeed,  right  to 
desire  to  know  the  truth,  to  obtain  all  the  light  one  can  ; 
but  to  know  all  before  one  believes,  and  is  a  Christian, 
is  a  premature  wish.  One  is  by  no  means  permitted  to 
enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  and  survey  it  with  a  kind 
of  cool  curiosity,  before  entering  it  by  the  humble  door 
of  repentance  and  faith. 

He  that  doeth  the  will  shall  know  of  the  doctrine — he 
that  willeth,  or  is  willing  or  loveth  to  do  the  will  ;  or,  in 
other  words,  he  that  loveth,  is  born  of  God.  One  cannot 
enter  by  the  door  of  knowledge  ;  he  cannot  gain  insight 
into  spiritual  things  by  a  mental  effort  ;  even  as  Christ 
said  to  Peter,  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona  ;  for 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven."  It  is  for  one,  first  of  all, 
ignorant  as  he  may  be,  wanting  all  that  God  can  alone 
give,  to  come  to  Christ  as  Teacher,  and  learn  of  him  ; 
and  whether  he  has   more  or  less  light,    as  a  sinner  he 


458  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

should  come  trustfully  to  Christ  for  light  and  life,  and  all 
things.  Questions  about  knowledge  and  experience, 
light  and  peace,  hope  and  happiness,  and  every  previous 
manifestation  of  what  really  belongs  to  the  Christian  life, 
are  not  of  primary  importance  to  the  inquirer  ;  and  dark- 
ness of  mind  upon  any  doctrine  forms  really  no  obstacle 
to  one's  coming  to  Christ,  but  is  the  great  reason  why  he 
should  come.  One  should  do  those  things  that  he  does 
know,  and  then  he  will  know  more.  There  may  be 
many  doctrines  of  Christianity  that  one  does  not  under- 
stand, as  was  the  case  with  the  earliest  Christians,  who 
did  not  sometimes  clearly  apprehend  the  divinity  of  the 
Lord,  and  yet  he  may  be  able  to  repent  of  his  known 
sins  and  exercise  a  simple  trust  in  Christ  for  his  deliver- 
ance from  them. 

ic)  From  an  apprehension  that  something  more  must 
be  done  by  him  in  the  way  of  preparation  before  coming 
to  the  Saviour.  He  has  such  an  exalted  conception  of 
the  Christian  character,  and  he  feels  himself  to  be  so 
far  from  this  high  excellence  and  perfection,  that  he  has 
much  to  do  before  he  can  presume  to  hope  to  be  a  Chris- 
tian. He  has,  as  it  were,  to  level  a  mountain.  He  must 
make  himself  a  Christian  before  he  can,  through  coming 
to  Christ,  begin  to  be  one.  He  must  be  rid  of  many 
faults  and  sins  before  he  can  dare  to  apply  to  God.  He 
must  fit  himself  to  come  to  God  and  be  saved.  When, 
therefore,  he  does,  come  to  Christ  (if  we  could  make  the 
supposition),  he  is,  in  fact,  independent  of  Christ's  aid, 
for  he  has  done  the  work  for  himself.  "  Him  that  com- 
eth  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out."  To  be  a  Chris- 
tian is  but  to  begin  to  love  and  serve  God,  trusting  in 
Christ  ;  and  if  one  is  not  willing  to  take  Christ  at  the 
beginning,  at  the  first  step  in  true  goodness,  he  can 
hardly  hope  to  obtain  him  and  his  salvation. 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  459 

id)  From  a  real  unbelief  in  the  necessity  of  Christ's  in- 
tercession. God  is  a  common  Father,  and  why  may  not 
any  human  soul  come  and  cast  itself  directly  upon  God's 
fatherly  love,  and  let  the  Christian  truth  of  saving  through 
Christ  go  by  ?  The  truth  might  be  brought  home  to 
a  mind  that  puts  itself  in  this  position  in  regard  to 
Christianity,  that  it  could  not  have  discovered  that  God 
is  "  love  "^ — that  he  is  a  Father,  ready  to  receive  the 
prodigal  back  to  his  love — if  Christ  had  not  revealed  this 
to  men.  That  was  just  what  the  Son  of  God  came  into 
the  world  to  do.  That  is  the  truth  of  Christianity  which 
heathen  wisdom  and  human  philosophy  never  arrived  at, 
nor  would  the  unassisted  human  mind  attain  to  it.  If 
men  would  themselves  come  to  the  Father,  Christ  had 
not  died,  and  there  would  be  no  need  of  the  gospel. 

The  incarnation,  sufferings,  and  atoning  death  of  the 
Son  of  God,  were  not,  reverently  to  say  it,  designed  to 
shut  up  the  way  of  salvation  to  one  exclusive  method  ;  but 
were  they  not  intended  to  bring  men  to  God  by  the  only 
way  possible  ?  Were  they  not  God's  consummate  method 
of  love  to  effect  the  object  ?  They  took  place  in  order  to 
open  to  men  the  way  of  reconciliation  to  God,  to  prove 
God's  love  and  willingness  to  receive  erring  men,  to  give 
them  confidence  to  come  to  God  in  Christ,  although 
sinners.  Let  us  be  sure  that  if  men  would  of  themselves 
return  to  their  heavenly  Father,  and  be  obedient  and  holy 
men  from  the  heart,  Christ  would  not  have  come  to  earth 
and  hung  on  the  cross.  It  would  have  been  a  needless 
sacrifice.  But  God  knew  the  depth  of  sin,  and  the  depth 
of  men's  alienation  from  him.  He  knew  that  men  had 
forsaken  God,  and  that  they  would  not  repent  of  their 
sins  and  do  holily,  had  he  not  brought  to  bear,  through 
his  Son,'  the  powerful  agencies  of  his  love  and  Spirit. 

Neither   would    repentance    alone    without    Christ    be 


46 o  V  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

sufficient  to  save  men  ;  for  even  the  natural  mind,  when 
it  thinks,  perceives  that  though  it  may  sincerely  strive  to 
do  good,  there  is  an  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  trans- 
gressor's truly  coming  to  God,  which  is  to  be  first 
removed  ;  and  the  great  demand  of  the  human  heart  has 
ever  been,  "  Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord  ?" 
The  reinstatement  and  vindication  of  the  divine  law  of 
right  in  the  soul  itself,  which  the  sinner  has  consciously 
and  deliberately  broken,  are  needed.  Men  feel  that  they 
have  sinned,  sinned  against  God,  sinned  against  their 
true  and  higher  nature,  and  are  thus  liable  to  woe  and 
death.  Sin  inflicts  a  wound  which  is  immedicable  by 
human  means,  for  sin  carries  no  hope  of  future  restora- 
tion within  itself.  A  sense  of  guilt  hangs  over  the  soul. 
This  inevitably  separates  between  the  soul  and  God. 
There  must  be  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  the  taking 
away  of  its  condemnation  and  its  power,  before  there 
can  be  any  real  peace.  "  Repentance,"  Joubert  says, 
"  is  the  effort  of  the  soul  to  throw  off  its  natural  corrup- 
tions ;"  but  it  is  faith  alone  that  enables  it  successfully 
to  do  so.  Through  Christ's  perfect  obedience  in  his 
human  nature  of  the  divine  law  of  righteousness,  and  his 
perfect  sacrifice  for  sin,  this  corruption  of  sin  in  our 
nature  is  removed,  and  its  just  fear  done  away,  and  not 
only  the  power  of  sin  is  broken,  but  a  new  principle  of 
holy  life  is  implanted  in  the  soul,  and  the  soul  renews 
its  holy  friendship  with  God  in  Christ,  for  Christ  came 
not  only  to  give  "  remission  of  sins,"  but  also  "  to  de- 
stroy sin  in  the  flesh."  Though  it  is  a  mystery  of  love 
and  grace,  the  great  obstacle  of  sin,  both  past  and  pres- 
ent, is  taken  away  by  our  appropriating,  through  faith, 
Christ's  mediation  for  the  sins  of  men. 

He,    therefore,    who    truly    desires    to    come    to    the 
Father,   should  rejoice  that  Christ  has  opened  the  way 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  461 

for  him  freely  to  do  so  ;  that  he  has  removed  every 
obstacle,  whether  subjective  or  objective.  "  I  am  the 
way;  no  man  cometh  imto  the  Father  but  by  me." 
The  calm  words,  "we  have  peace  in  believing,"  and 
"  there  is  now,  therefore,  no  condemnation  to  them  that 
are  in  Christ  Jesus,"  cannot  certainly  apply  to  those 
persons  who  think  they  can  come,  or  have  come,  to  God, 
without  Christ  ;  who  seek  for  peace  simply  in  the  good 
of  their  own  minds,  and  not  in  first  trusting  the  goodness 
and  righteousness  of  God  as  revealed  in  his  Son. 

(e)  From  supposing  that  in  view  of  such  truths  as  the 
great  guilt  of  sin,  and  the  stupendous  retributions  of 
eternity,  one  should  be  more  affected  and  alarmed  than 
he  is.  One  cannot  come  to  Christ  and  be  saved  because 
he  does  not  feel  more  deeply.  He  should  be  brought, 
he  thinks,  into  a  lively  distress  of  mind,  and  thus  be 
driven  by  his  distress  to  Christ  for  relief.  He  would 
have  emotions  deep  enough  to  prove  to  himself  that  his 
soul  is  moved  by  God — pangs  that  are  in  some  measure 
commensurate  with  his  sinful  and  imperilled  condition. 

He  should  be  deeply  moved  in  view  of  such  truths  ; 
and  if  there  is  anything  which  will  awaken  in  the  soul 
the  most  poignant  anguish,  it  is  the  view  of  its  unsatis- 
factory relations  to  God,  of  its  own  sinfulness.  But  does 
God  tell  us  how  much  or  how  little  distress  one  must 
experience  before  he  does  his  simple  duty  ?  We  are 
indeed  told  that  we  must  have  repentance  ;  but  what  is 
repentance  {/ueTavota)  in  its  essence  ?  It  is  simply  a 
"  change  of  mind  "  from  that  which  is  evil  to  that  which 
is  good,  from  that  which  is  unholy  to  that  which  is  holy. 
It  is  a  wholly  moral  act.  Christian  repentance  involves 
feeling  because  it  involves  the  heart  as  well  as  the  intel- 
lect, conscience,  and  will.  It  is  such  a  heartfelt  view  of 
our  sins,   and  such  a  willingness  to  make  confession  of 


462  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

them  to  God,  as  to  lead  us  to  forsake  them  utterly. 
The  forsaking  of  sin,  the  turning  from  it  to  God,  with  the 
whole  being,  is  the  essence  of  repentance.  Every  one 
who  becomes  a  Christian  must  be  convicted  (convinced) 
of  sin,  and  must  be  made  willing  to  turn  from  sin  to 
God  ;  but  how  singular  it  is  that  the  thing  most  repellent 
to  the  mind — pain  for  its  own  wrongdoing — should  be 
made  a  reason  for  not  obeying  God,  and  coming  to  him 
in  simple  trust.  Love  and  Joy,  in  fact,  are  more  truly 
Christian  feelings  than  Fear  and  Pain.  What  a  degrad- 
ing conception  of  God  this  springs  from,  as  if  he  were 
not  "love"  but  "fear,"  as  if  he  indeed  required  sac- 
rifice and  not  mercy. 

That  which  is  needed  by  the  seeker  after  a  higher  life 
is  not  to  feel,  but  to  be.  It  is  essential  for  him  to  obey  and 
love  God,  whether  he  feels  more  or  less,  and  as  Fenelon 
says,  it  takes  no  time  to  love  God.  There  is  no  time 
in  eternal  things  ;  if  God  is  ever  worthy  of  our  love,  he 
is  so  at  this  moment,  and  always.  "  He  that  hath  my 
commandments  and  keepeth  them,  he  it  is  that  loveth 
me."  Let  the  will  of  God  be  done,  and  let  the  soul 
come  in  penitent  faith  to  its  God  and  Father  ;  that  is  all 
that  is  necessary.  Faith  rather  than  feeling  is  required. 
The  real  believer  will  probably  have  more  feeling,  and 
more  poignancy  of  feeling,  after,  than  before,  his  con- 
version ;  for  a  more  intimate  communion  with  God 
and  holy  things  opens  the  heart  to  the  tenderest,  pro- 
foundest  emotion,  and  often  to  the  greatest  distress  on 
account  of  sin  ;  and  yet  this  is  not  saying  that  true 
repentance  itself  is  not  commonly  accompanied  by  a  pro- 
found feeling  of  sorrow  for  sin.  "  Anguish  is  so  alien 
to  man's  spirit,  that  perhaps  nothing  is  more  difficult 
to  will  than  contrition.  God,  therefore,  is  good  enough 
to  afflict  us,  that  our  hearts  being  brought  low  enough 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  463 

to  feed  on  sorrow,  may  the  more  easily  sorrow   for  sin 
unto  repentance,"  ' 

(/")  From  real  unwillingness  to  incur  all  the  responsi- 
bility of  becoming  a  true  Christian.  Here  will  generally 
be  found  to  be  the  main  stress  of  the  difificulty  of  in- 
quirers— a  real  unwillingness  to  take  up  the  cross  and 
follow  Christ  ;  the  Christian  is  not  only  to  take  up 
the  cross,  but  to  follow  Christ,  The  heart  is  a  subtle 
corrupter  of  the  best  intentions.  One  may  have  even 
gone  so  far  as  to  fall  upon  his  knees,  and  to  implore  God 
to  change  his  heart,  and  to  take  away  his  sins,  and  to 
make  him  a  true  Christian  ;  but  at  the  time  he  is 
engaged  in  this  attempt  to  pray,  does  he  truly  desire  to 
have  his  prayer  answered  ?  And  what  is  the  obstacle  ? 
It  may  be  that  he  is  not  yet  willing  to  follow  Christ 
through  good  report  and  evil  report,  and  all  manner  of 
trial,  yes,  if  necessary,  to  death.  That  is  a  searching 
thought.  That  is  a  strange,  but  not  uncommon  fact  in 
the  history  of  the  soul,  of  one's  praying  to  be  made  the 
child  of  Christ,  and  yet  down  in  the  secret  depths  of 
his  heart,  not  being  willing  that  his  prayer  should  be 
heard,  not  being  yet  ready  to  make  that  entire  sur- 
render to  Christ,  that  he  is  praying  God  to  effect  in 
him.  When  one  comes  to  Christ  it  amounts  to  this,  that 
there  is  not  anything  he  is  not  willing  at  the  command 
of  God  to  surrender  to  Christ,  and  for  Christ's  sake. 
With  one  man  the  form  of  non-surrender  may  be  the 
strength  of  the  covetous  principle  as  it  was  developed  in 
the  young  ruler  at  the  touch  of  Christ,  "  he  went  away 
sorrowful,  for  he  had  great  possessions  ;"  with  another 
it  is  the  power  of  some  evil  appetite  ;  with  another  it  is 
the  ambitious  principle,  or  the  determination  to  acquire 


'  Guesses  at  Truth. 


464  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

earthly  influence,   distinction,   place  ;   and   with   another 
it  is  the  pride  of  intellect.      This  pride  of  opinion  is  not 
unfrequently  found  among  highly  intellectual  men,  and 
is  strong  enough  sometimes  to  drive  a  man  of  fine  mind 
far  from  Christ  into  the  frozen  regions  of  scepticism.     He 
says  there  have  been  great  thinkers  who  have  rejected 
the  Christian    faith  ;   I,   therefore,    though  I   am  no  op- 
poser,  and  wish  to  know  the  truth,  cannot    go  with   the 
crowd  of  men  in   submitting  without  a  struggle  my  free 
mind,  to  a  faith  of  which  I  am  not  yet  thoroughly  con- 
vinced ;   I  prefer  to  stand  calmly  for  a  while  with  this  or 
that  one  who  rises  above  the  mass  of  men  as  a  tower.      I 
would   rather  err  with  Plato  than  to  be  right  with  those 
simple  ones.      Or,  it  may  be,  if  he  does  not  go  so  far  as 
this,   he   thinks   that    if  he  could  but  shape  Christianity 
according  to  his  own  conception  of  a  true  religion  ;   if  he 
could  rationalize  faith,  and   take  out  of  it  its  mystical, 
mysterious  or  supernatural  element,   and   make   it   on   a 
level  with  natural  religion  and  with  his  own  reason,  he 
would  have  pleasure  in    calling   Christ   his  Teacher  and 
Lord.      The  pastor  might  set  forth  the  truth  that  no  man 
is  called  to  believe  against  his  reason  ;  but  Christianity 
lays  on  every  man  the  obligation  to  search  ;   and  to  bring 
to  this  inquiry  a  humble  and  teachable  spirit.     Without 
entering  here  into  the  rational  defence  of  Christianity,  it 
may  be  seen  at  once  that  the  attitude  of  a  person — such 
as  has  been  described — is  one  not  yet  prepared  to  enter 
the  kingdom  of  God  ;  for  this  making  of  conditions,   as 
it  were,  with  God,  before  coming  to  Christ,  will  not  allow 
a  man  to  be  saved  while  the  world  stands.      The  instance 
also  of  one  who  supposes  that  his  mental  state  is  peculiar, 
and  that  he  has  peculiar  difficulties,  that  there  never  was 
a  case  like  his  ;  this  is  another  illustration  of  the  same 
intellectual  pride.      But  pride  of  any  kind   is  opposed  to 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  465 

faith  ;  and  when  we  see  human  wisdom  joined  to  falli- 
bihty,  human  strength  stumbling  on  the  edge  of  im- 
becility, human  morahty  slaying  itself  with  its  own 
vanity,  and  even  human  goodness  overborne  by  native 
selfishness,  why  should  there  be  pride  in  the  sight  of  a 
perfect  God  ?  The  true  glory  of  our  nature  begins  in 
the  depths  of  a  humbled  spirit  ;  in  the  death  of  the  self, 
to  find  the  true  self,  the  higher  life,  in  God. 

The  writer  has  met  minds  who  have  adopted  the 
out-and-out  agnostic  principle  that  faith  should  go  no 
further  than  knowledge.  One  bright  and  accomplished 
person  of  this  class  emphatically  declared  :  "I  bow  to 
intellect.  I  acknowledge  no  other  authority.  Herbert 
Spencer,  in  my  view,  is  the  supreme  logical  intellect  of 
the  age.  I  yield  to  his  conclusions.  I  must  yield  to  them. 
How  can  I  be  responsible  for  anything  more  than  to 
acquiesce  in  the  deliberate  conclusions  of  the  highest 
intellect  ?  If  I  have,  by  close  and  severe  reasoning, 
proved  to  myself  that  there  is  no  future  after  death,  how 
can  I  be  blamed  for  resting  on  this  conclusion  ?"  It 
seemed  vain  to  say  to  such  an  upright  and  blameless  person 
that  she  would  not  have  trusted  Herbert  Spencer  himself, 
the  incarnation  of  intellect,  and  whose  power  is  readily 
acknowledged,  if  he  had  not  been  a  man  of  good  char- 
acter, so  that  even  in  her  case  the  moral  sense  lay  back 
of  the  intellectual  ;  or  to  tell  her,  that  there  was  a 
higher  conception  of  the  reason  than  that  contained  in 
the  idea  of  the  logical  intellect,  viz.,  a  power  to  grasp 
moral  truth  ;  or  to  remind  her,  above  all,  of  that  new  ele- 
ment of  faith  by  which  the  inward  eye  is  opened,  by  which 
spiritual  and  divine  truths  are  truly  known.  The  cure 
of  such  a  mind  lay  in  the  giving  up  not  of  her  reason, 
but  of  her  pride  of  intellect  through  the  humbling  sense 
of  its  inadequacy  to  bring  her  to  that  knowledge  of  God 


466  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

whereby  the  soul  lays  hold  of  eternal  life.  We  might 
also  mention  the  fear  of  man,  the  fear  of  losing  popu- 
larity, of  losing  one's  social  position,  of  being  looked 
upon  as  unsocial,  narrow,  or  bigoted,  as  a  very  common 
hinderance  to  young  persons  in  the  way  of  doing  that  act 
of  faith  toward  an  unseen  God,  which  has  nothing 
brilliant  in  it,  which  appeals  in  no  form  or  sense  to  the 
ambitious  principle,  or  to  selfish  interest  ;  and  which,  on 
the  contrary,  is  a  real  humiliation  of  the  outer  man. 

But  we  will  dwell  no  longer  upon  these  difficulties  and 
delusions  of  the  will  and  the  imagination,  which  the  truly 
unwilling  mind  creates  for  itself,  because  it  must  find 
something  false  to  prop  itself  upon,  when  it  refuses  to 
rest  upon  the  true.  The  words  of  Christ  are  explicit, 
"  Whosoever  he  be  of  you  who  forsaketh  not  all  that  he 
hath,  he  cannot  be  my  disciple." 

In  regard,  then,  to  the  difficulties  which  beset  the 
inquirer  after  eternal  life,  it  may  be  seen  that  there  is  no 
obstacle  which  can  really  stand  the  test  of  truth  in  the 
way  of  the  inquirers  who  approach  the  Redeemer  by  an 
act  of  faith  ;  who  bring  to  him  their  wants,  confess  to 
him  their  sins,  consecrate  to  him  their  powers,  and  re- 
ceive from  him  his  word  of  peace  and  everlasting  life. 
The  pastor  should  then  exhort  to  an  immediate  coming 
to  Christ — an  immediate  and  entire  and  loving  surrender 
to  his  loving  and  divine  claims.  Let  him  urge  the  in- 
quirer to  disregard  unessentials  and  do  the  main  thing. 
Union  by  faith  with  a  personal  Redeemer  is  the  way 
of  salvation.  Press  to  an  instant  choice  of  Christ,  to 
a  casting  of  the  soul  upon  him  by  faith.  It  is  not 
thinking,  or  knowing,  or  reasoning,  or  feeling,  or  doing, 
but  it  is  believing  on  Christ  with  the  whole  heart,  that 
brings  new  life  and  salvation  into  the  spirit  of  man. 

But  let  the    pastor  be  aware  of  the  trutii,  that  there 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  467 

are  differences  in  the  circumstances  of  conversion,  though 
none  in  the  way  of  salvation.     These  differ- 
ences spring  from   the   character  of  the  in- 

conversion. 
quirer,    and   also   from    the    freedom   of   the 

Spirit's  action.  The  Spirit  is  not  bound.  All  to  whom 
Christ  is  made  known,  who  are  converted,  must,  indeed, 
in  some  true  sense,  have  come  to  the  Saviour  ;  but,  with 
one  man  the  conversion  may  take  the  form  of  a  solemn 
dedication  of  his  whole  being  to  Christ  ;  with  another 
man  it  may  be  an  act  of  simple  obedience  to  the  com- 
mandment of  Christ,  of  doing  his  plain  and  reasonable 
duty  ;  with  another  it  may  be  the  abandonment  of  a 
sinful  propensity,  habit,  or  affection  ;  with  another  it 
may  be  a  new  interest  felt  in  the  words  and  truth  of 
Christ,  in  the  Scriptures,  or  in  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel,  so  that  there  is  a  clear  vision  of  divine  things, 
even  as  he  who  said,  "  Whereas  I  was  blind,  now  I 
see  ;"  and  with  another,  still,  it  may  be  a  sudden  and 
uncontrollable  emotion  of  joy,  like  a  burst  of  heavenly 
sunshine,  to  have  found  at  last  the  divine  Redeemer. 

Who  can  tell  what  will  be  the  first  holy  act  ?  Can  we 
always  know  what  direction  the  waters  of  a  great  river 
will  take  when  they  burst  their  icy  fetters  ?  They  may 
move  on  evenly  in  the  regular  channel  marked  out  for 
them,  or  they  may  deluge  the  banks,  and  plough  for 
themselves  a  new  channel.  Yet  there  is  a  moment  when 
the  will  yields  itself  to  the  higher  claims  of  God,  and 
does  its  first  loving  and  holy  act  ;  when  its  hesitancy 
and  unbelief  pass  away,  when  it  delights  to  do  holily. 
Sometimes  a  step,  almost  literally  a  step,  in  the  right 
direction,  away  from  sin,  and  toward  Christ,  results  in 
the  salvation  of  the  soul.  A  single  act,  perhaps  a  very 
small  one,  of  the  heart's  true  movement  and  disposition 
to  come  to  Christ,  is  all  that  is  needed. 


468  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  humblest  prayer  uttered  in  the  depths  of  the 
heart,  like  the  publican's,  the  secret  tear  of  true  sub- 
mission and  trust,  the  Lord  will  recognize  and  accept  ; 
and  here  is  the  pastor's  great  responsibility,  to  perceive 
the  true  marks  of  the  beginnings  of  new-born  faith,  how- 
ever faint  ;  and  not  by  coldness,  or  harshness,  or  dog- 
matism, or  inexcusable  neglect,  or  cruel  ignorance,  "  to 
break  the  bruised  reed,  and  to  quench  the  smoking 
flax."  He  who  but  desires  to  come  to  Christ  is  in  the 
way  to  him.  Let  the  feeblest  desire  be  cherished.  Bid 
the  soul  go  on,  and  follow  out  this  little  thread  of  desire 
till  it  shall  lead  to  the  feet  of  Jesus  !  Beware  of  extin- 
guishing the  first  beginnings  of  repentance  by  overlaying 
them  with  requirements  hard  for  the  most  mature  Chris- 
tian to  bear.  If  we  do  this,  instead  of  being  the  minis- 
ters of  Christ's  new  evangel  of  hope  and  love,  we  may 
be  but  as  the  old  obstructive  Hebrew  priests  and  lawyers 
of  the  law  of  condemnation  and  death.  We  should  ever 
remember  that  "  a  little  faith  saves." 

We  have  spoken  a  little  while  since  of  the  philosophy 
of  conversion,  perhaps  it  would  be  well,  before  leaving 
this  topic,  to  say  a  word  more  particularly  upon  what 
conversion  actually  is.  It  is  not,  assuredly,  a  miraculous 
change  ;  it  is  not  either,  a  physical  change  ;  it  is  not  a 
constitutional  mental  change — not  a  change  that  de- 
stroys and  renders  useless  the  natural  powers,  or  nat- 
ural freedom,  but  rather  it  makes  use  of  all  these.  It  is, 
above  all  and  simply,  a  moral  change.  Every  unregener- 
ate  man  is  more  or  less  convinced  of  sin  ;  and  this  is  a 
general  sense  among  mankind,  but  this  conviction  must  be 
deepened,  confirmed,  and  made  real  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  order  that  conviction  may  result  in  conversion.  Con- 
version is  the  mere  human  act  done  in  accordance  with 
the    divine    impulse    and    requirement  ;    regeneration    is 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  469 

an  experience  begun  and  completed  through  the  divine 
agency  ;  it  is  an  act  and  gift  of  God.  Regeneration  is 
the  production  of  change  in  our  ruHng  love.  The  Holy- 
Spirit  softens  the  heart  and  gives  the  right  bent  to  the 
mind — the  new  and  holy  energy.  Conversion  is  more 
emphatically  the  sinner's  own  turning  to  God  with  the 
help  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  a  change  of  moral  char- 
acter. It  is  the  taking  up  of  a  line  of  life  upon  a  new 
moral  purpose.  Sometimes  the  moment  of  conversion, 
is  the  first  moment  that  a  man  has  ever  exercised  his 
power  of  moral  choice  under  the  influence  of  right 
motives.  While  there  is  no  exact  repetition  of  conver- 
sion, yet  there  is  the  uniform  principle  in  all  conversions, 
that  a  new  affection  or  purpose  has  come  into  the  mind  ef- 
fecting a  revolution  of  character.  It  may  come  in  the  still 
small  voice,  or  with  the  tempest's  rushing  wind.  Those 
who  have  been  brought  up  in  Christian  families,  uprightly 
and  regularly,  do  not  always,  or  generally,  perhaps,  have 
marked  conversions,  preceded  by  strong  conviction  of  sin, 
but  they  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven  more  quietly,  as 
a  matter  of  recognized  duty,  privilege,  and  joy.  This  is 
as  it  should  be  and  will  be  more  and  more  in  the  days  of 
advancing  Christianity.  There  must  be,  it  is  true,  a  real 
conviction  of  sin  in  conversion — it  is  not  a  mere  senti- 
ment. The  moral  law  of  God  as  manifesting  God's  holy 
nature  and  man's  sinful  nature,  must  be  in  some  sense 
realized.  There  is,  in  a  word,  a  principle,  as  well  as  a 
feeling,  in  conversion.  While  the  truth  is  an  essential 
agent  in  conversion,  yet  there  is  required  to  be  a 
sympathy  and  recipiency  in  the  soul  itself,  to  admit  the 
truth,  which  makes  the  renewing  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  necessary.  Conversion,  then,  is  the  taking  up  of  a 
new  and  holy  purpose  of  life  ;  it  is  a  radical  change  in 
the  whole  character  of  the  man. 


470  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

In  conversing  with  the  inquirer,  one  should  be  exceed- 
Conversinff  ^"^^7  simple  in  language  and  thought.  Do 
with  the  in-  not  be  afraid  of  using  the  plainest  and  home- 
quirer.  Y\q<~x,  illustrations,  even  with  the  most  intel- 
ligent people  who  are  beginning  to  seek  the  way  of  life  ; 
for  they  are  but  infants  in  spiritual  things.  One  should 
also  be  kind  in  language.  Even  when  most  earnest  and 
faithful,  do  not  grow  harsh  and  threatening  ;  do  not  ap- 
pear over-solicitous  for  the  welfare  of  the  inquirer,  for 
God  is  more  in  earnest  than  the  best  man  can  be,  that 
his  erring  child  should  be  saved.  Never  leave  the  im- 
pression that  God  is  not  able  and  willing  to  save  the  soul  ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  that  he  will  surely  save  the  soul, 
if  it  trusts  in  him. 

And  do  not  say  too  much.  One  should  strive  to  say 
the  fit  word,  rather  than  to  heap  up  words  ;  the  right 
word  is  the  great  thing.  Touch  the  real  difficult}^  and 
be  satisfied  to  do  that.  Give  the  proper  medicine  for 
the  disease.  Do  not  suffer  yourself  to  be  led  away  from 
the  subject  you  wish  to  talk  upon  into  some  general  dis- 
cussion ;  for  the  mind  is  skilful  in  evasions,  as  was  said 
of  one  of  old,  who,  when  he  "  saw  that  there  was  respite, 
he  hardened  his  heart." 

Do  not  suffer  the  awakened  mind  to  rest  for  its  hope 
in  any  outward  means  or  object,  in  prayer,  reading  the 
Scriptures,  attending  religious  meetings,  the  doing  of 
any  duty,  or  of  any  act,  however  good  and  charitable. 
Show  him  the  true  place  and  use  of  those  things  ;  but 
show  him  that  eternal  life  is  in  God  alone,  in  personal 
union  with  God  and  Christ.  And  in  this  light  even  faith 
does  not  save  ;  but  it  is  Christ,  the  divine  object  of  faith, 
who,  when  he  is  truly  fonnd,  gives  to  the  soul  its  new 
life,  by  making  it  a  partaker  of  his  own. 

The  great  object  often  of  conversing  with  inquirers  is  to 


THE   PASrOKS   CARE    OF  SOULS.  47 1 

discover  what  is  the  particular  thing  that  hinders  earnest 
men  from  obtaining  peace  with  God.  Many  convicted 
sinners,  as  has  been  said,  have  been  kept  away  from 
Christ  by  some  imagined  obstacle.  It  is  needful  to 
discover  and  remove  this.  The  soul  may  even  love 
Christ  and  be  "saved,  but  it  may  not  know  its  own  salva- 
tion. There  are  peculiar  snares,  too,  into  which  the 
soul  falls,  as  the  bird  in  the  net  of  the  fowler,  which  the 
pastor  must  disentangle  and  let  the  struggling  soul  go 
free. 

Labored  metaphysical  definitions  of  faith,  or  specula- 
tive discussions  upon  doctrines  at  such  times  often  darken 
and  confuse.  They  give  a  shrewd  mind  the  opportunity 
of  evasion.  They  may  be  necessary  with  some,  but  the 
initial  act  of  faith  is,  with  all,  a  simple  act.  It  is  an  un- 
conscious and  childlike  act  of  trust.  Point  them  to  the 
cross.  That  or  nothing.  Christ  must  be  accepted  on 
the  simple  trust  of  God's  declaration  and  promise  ;  and 
a  great  amount  of  religious  conversation  sometimes 
diminishes  the  lively  impression  of  spiritual  things.  It 
keeps  up  a  reliance  upon  something  besides  Christ.  It  is 
indeed  important  to  know  when  to  stop  talking. 

Above  all,  do  not  turn  the  mind  away  from  the  one 
divine  object  upon  which  it  ought  to  be  established. 
Whatever  its  difficulties,  one  thing  it  ought  to  decide  at 
once,  that  it  should  be  on  the  Lord's  side. 

If  one  wishes  to  know  the  workings  of  a  heart  in  order 
to  direct  it  aright,  it  is  necessary  to  ask  close  and  leading 
questions  ;  and,  as  the  gospel  is  addressed  to  hope,  as 
"  we  are  saved  by  hope,"  therefore  one  should  make 
inquiries,  state  reasons,  and,  in  fact,  talk  always  in  a 
hopeful  spirit,  presenting  the  infinite  m.ercies  of  God,  the 
free  and  open  way  of  salvation,  and  while  uncompromis- 
ingly faithful  to  the  soul,  yet  one  should  be  encouraging 


472  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

in  tone.  Convicted  sinners,  it  should  also  be  remem- 
bered,  are  poor  jud^^es  of  their  own  minds,  and  of  what 
is  best  for  them.  The  very  things  they  think  they  need 
are  often  the  things  which  are  fatal  temptations  to 
them. 

The  pastor  should  be  cautious  of  experiences  which  do 
not  seem  to  spring  clearly  from  the  truth  or  the  power  of 
the  truth.  To  "  experience  religion,"  as  the  old  phrase 
was,  is  to  experience  the  truth  of  what  God,  and  Christ, 
and  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  repentance,  and  faith  and  di- 
vine love  are.  Mere  mental  excitements,  unless  they 
spring  from  the  known  truths  of  God's  Word  acting  upon 
the  mind,  from  conscientious  conviction  of  the  truth, 
are  never  safe.  All  excitement  too  which  will  not  per- 
mit itself  to  be  guided  by  the  truth  is  injurious. 

The  simple  resolves  of  sinners  are  not  enough  ;  for  they 
may  be  wholly  human.  Resolutions  to  serve  and  obey 
God  should  come  from  the  influence  of  the  Word  and 
Spirit  of  God  in  the  heart.  An  interest  about  religion 
is  quite  different  from  an  interest  in  religion. 

All  true  converts  may  not  (as  has  been  said)  be  con- 
scious of  any  special  act  or  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
in  their  regeneration  ;  for  all  men  are  not  discriininating 
or  capable  of  self-analysis — perhaps  no  mind  is  entirely 
so  in  spiritual  things.  Therefore  do  not  doubt  the 
presence  of  a  true  spiritual  work  in  a  mind  from  this  rea- 
son alone,  if  other  evidences  are  sufficient. 

Self-denial  is  a  genuine  evidence  of  every  true  con- 
version. Readiness  to  take  up  the  cross,  or  endure  trial 
and  suffering,  and  cost,  and  shame  and  persecution,  for 
the  truth's  sake,  is  the  best  kind  of  proof  of  the  reality 
of  conversion.  It  is  indeed  not  the  cost,  or  the  pain,  or 
the  self-denial  that  God  desires,  or  that  is  Christianity, 
but  it  is  sometimes  the  cost  that  goes  to  prove  the  sin- 


l^HE   PASTOR'S    CARE    OF   SOULS.  473 

cerity  of  the  act.  The  more  perfect  the  Christian,  the 
less,  in  fact,  the  cost  to  serve  God. 

What  wisdom  is  required  in  winning  and  guiding 
souls  !  The  Word  of  God  is  the  only  safe  counsellor  in 
this  high  and  difficult  and  blessed  work.  Its  spirit  is 
that  of  divine  love  and  wisdom.  To  lead  sinners  to  con- 
demn themselves  is  one  thing  ;  but  for  us  to  condemn 
them  is  another.  Here  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent  must 
be  joined  to  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove.  Love — the 
Spirit  of  Christ — alone  possesses  this  power  of  mingled 
severity  and  gentleness,  this  truth  and  delicacy,  this  faith- 
fulness to  God  and  sympathy  with  men. 

Discrimination  in  the  treatment  of  inquirers  is  required, 
and  we  should  particularly  study  the  exquisite  adapta- 
tion of  Christ's  teachings,  in  his  recorded  dealings  with 
the  souls  of  those  who  were  seeking  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Some  persons  are  inclined  to  despondency,  and  need 
encouragement,  while  others  are  sanguine,  and  need  an 
abating  of  their  confidence.  The  real  disposition  comes 
out  strikingly  in  this  moment  when  the  soul  is  stripped  of 
its  disguises  under  the  searching  eye  of  God.  Mild  words 
are  good  for  some,  but  severe,  alarming,  terror-striking 
words  are  better  for  others.  Some  inquirers  who  are 
wanting  in  self-reliance,  are  to  be  dissuaded  from  con- 
versing with  too  many  persons  ;  and  they  should  be  led 
away  from  all  human  reliance,  from  reliance  on  the  pastor 
himself,  to  God.  Persons  of  an  undecided  temper  in 
other  things  will  show  this  in  matters  of  religion. 

Sometimes  it  is  even  necessary  to  urge  such  irresolute 
persons  to  make  a  solemn  resolution,  or  covenant,  with 
God,  a  dedication  of  themselves  to  God,  in  a  set  form  of 
words.  But  this  is  a  perilous  step  to  take,  for  it  is  an 
outside  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  the  soul  ;   and  one 


474  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

should  be  careful  not  to  suffer  the  mind  of  the  inquirer 
to  consider  this  resolution  as  being  in  itself  an  evidence  of 
conversion.  If,  however,  one  makes  the  resolution  from 
the  heart,  it  is  surely  an  evidence  of  true  conversion.  To 
judge  of  real  conversion,  which  is  a  hidden  thing  of  the 
heart,  requires  divine  vv^isdom  and  discrimination  ;  but 
the  pastor  should  be  guided  by  the  simple  scriptural  prin- 
ciple, "  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  In  all  real 
conversion  there  is  a  definite  decision  of  purpose  to 
serve  God's  will  in  all  things.  It  is  a  steady,  life-long, 
controlling  purpose,  outliving  even  the  flames  of  new 
excitement  and  zeal.  This  is  the  essential  thing.  "  The 
heart  determines  the  gravitation  of  moral  beings  God- 
ward."  Where  there  is  clearly  to  be  seen  such  a  new 
principle  of  impulsion,  such  a  new  tendency,  motion,  and 
life  toward  God,  affecting  the  whole  nature,  sensibilities, 
intellect,  and  will,  and  operating  as  a  steadily  controlling 
principle  of  holy  action — this  makes  the  truly  converted 
man,  the  righteous  man.  This  new  life  is  shown  by  its 
fruits.  The  new  evangelic  spirit  will  irresistibly  manifest 
itself  in  the  blessed  fruits  of  forgiveness,  righteousness, 
temperance,  purity,  gentleness,  truth,  self-denial,  courage, 
humihty  and  charity.  Life  is  the  essential  thing,  "how- 
ever produced.  Where  there  is  the  new  life,  it  is  "  the 
fruit  of  the  Spirit  ;"  and  one  should  not  pick  the  bud  to 
pieces  in  order  to  find  its  life. 

Set  ever  before  the  inquirer  the  grand  and  sweet  at- 
tractions of  the  gospel  ;  tell  him  he  is  not  called  to  give 
up  the  pleasures  of  the  world  and  receive  nothing  in  re- 
turn, or  to  espouse  a  barren  and  unrewarding  faith  ;  but 
in  Christ  are  peace,  happiness,  honor,  power,  riches,  true 
manhood,  perfection  of  character,  unending  love  and 
everlasting  life.      The  gospel  appeals  to  the  highest  in- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  475 

stincts  and  the  unlimited  hopes  of  our  nature.  In  it  we 
realize  our  noblest  ideals, 

Prayer  with  the  inquirer  is  sometimes  good  ;  and  as  it 
may  be  the  first  time  that  the  stubborn  knees  have  ever 
bowed,  the  impenitent  will  may  yield  when  the  knees  are 
bent.  The  confessions  of  inquiring  and  troubled  spirits 
should  be  sacredly  preserv^ed  ;  otherwise  the  pastoral 
relations  would  be,  and  would  deserve  to  be,  destroyed. 

3.    The  young  convert. 

There  is  no  sight  more  pathetic  than  a  young  Christian 

in  the  first  glow  of  his  new  love,  knowing  little  of  what 

lies  before  him,  and  thinking  perhaps  that  his 

salvation  is  gained  and  the  work  done.      The  ^ 

.      .  convert. 

pathetic  part  of   it  is,  that  he  lives   as  yet  in 

the  ideal  of  Christianity,  and  when  the  actual  comes  his 
strength  may  be  found  to  be  weakness.  If  any  one, 
therefore,  needs  kindness,  counsel,  charity,  patience, 
continual  support  and  encouragement,  it  is  he  ;  he  needs 
constant  instruction  and  building  up  in  the  things  of  the 
new  life. 

(i)  Strive  to  lead  the  convert  to  a  pure  conviction  of 
sin  and  a  high  standard  of  piety.  Let  him  lay  the  founda- 
tions deep.  Conviction  should  not  cease  at  conversion, 
but  should  rather  increase  in  intensity  as  the  mind  draws 
nearer  a  pure  God,  and  has  a  clearer  insight  of  its  own 
character  ;  and  while  the  mind  is  softened  by  these  fires 
of  conviction,  it  may  be  stamped  with  the  noblest 
type  of  Christian  character.  Let  the  pastor  feel  how 
critical  is  the  moment  with  the  new  convert's  soul, 
and  let  him  strive,  as  far  as  in  him  lies,  that  the  work 
may  be  thorough,  that  the  perfect  image  of  Christ  may 
be  set  before  the  mind,    as  its  everlasting  pattern  and 


476  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

hope.  This  is  the  very  beginning  of  character,  of  real 
choice  for  God  and  holy  living,  the  period  when  one,  for 
the  first  time,  is  freed  from  the  fear  of  man  and  acts  as 
a  free  soul  in  the  sight  of  God.  Let  not  the  pastor  at 
such  a  time  intrude  his  human  personality  or  advice 
too  much  ;  but  rather  let  God  speak,  let  his  Word 
instruct,  let  his  Spirit  guide.  Teach  the  convert  what 
Christ's  will  is — lead  him  to  Christ  to  dwell  with  him, 
and  be  taught  by  him.  "  Abide  in  me,  and  I  in  you  ; 
as  the  branch  cannot  bear  fruit  of  itself,  except  it  abide 
in  the  vine  :  no  more  can  ye,  except  ye  abide  in  me." 
The  young  convert  should  be  told  that  he  is  called  not  so 
much  to  happiness  as  to  holiness,  and  to  real  service  ; 
and  that  final  salvation  consists  not  in  the  feeble  begin- 
nings of  goodness,  but  in  the  perfected  life  of  God  in  the 
soul. 

(2)  Nourish  the  mind  in  divine  truth  and  with  the 
words  of  Christ.  This  is  the  time  to  feed  the  mind  upon 
the  Word,  that  it  may  grow  thereby  ;  for  then  it  receives 
it  gladly  ;  it  finds  its  real  nourishment  and  delight  in 
divine  things.  Then  the  soul  should  be  indoctrinated  in 
a  higher  wisdom  and  be  founded  upon  a  broad  and  intel- 
ligent faith. 

Some  system  of  regular  instruction  of  those  newly 
expressing  a  hope  should  be  established.  This  impor- 
tant time  should  not  be  lost.  The  special  instruction  of 
young  converts  is  moulding  the  model  before  the  clay  is 
dry  ;  and,  as  far  as  the  pastor  is  concerned,  the  work 
should  be  faultless. 

(3)  Direct  to  an  immediate  entering  upon  the  active 
service  of  the  Master.  The  young  convert  need  not  be 
urged  at  first  to  the  taking  up  of  great  or  disheartening 
works,  but  he  should  be  guided  into  the  path  of  true  ser- 
vice in  simple  ways  ;  to  visit  the  poor,  to  aid  by  all  prac- 


THE   PASTOR'S   CANE    OF   SOULS.  477 

ticable  efforts  some  benevolent  object,  to  instruct  in  the 
Sunday-school,  to  pray  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his 
companions,  and,  in  every  unostentatious  way,  to  strive 
for  their  good  and  happiness,  and,  above  all,  to  be  a 
good  son,  father,  husband,  citizen,  man.  Such  things 
are  better  than  to  encourage  the  young  convert  to  be 
conspicuous  at  first  in  public  meetings,  or  to  attempt 
publicly  to  instruct  others.  If  he  speaks  at  all,  let  it  be 
briefly,  and  in  the  meetings  of  those  who  are  young  dis- 
ciples like  himself,  and  let  him  pray  rather  than  speak. 
But  he  should  prepare  for  a  self-denying  service  of  God 
and  man.  The  age  calls  for  a  vigorous  generation  of 
workers,  and  for  a  religion  that  is  full  of  the  primitive 
spirit  of  a  cheerful  obedience  of  Christ  in  all  good  works. 
The  young  convert  should  be  made  to  think  that  he  can, 
with  Christ's  help,  accomplish  great  things  for  God.  Pie 
should  be  systematically  trained  in  the  right  methods 
of  Christian  activity.  The  idea  of  work,  of  service,  should 
be  early  impressed  on  the  mind — that  every  one  can  and 
should  do  something  worthy  for  the  Master  and  for  man, 
that  he  should  live  a  life  of  active  goodness. 

(4)  Prepare  the  young  convert  as  early  as  it  is  proper 
to  make  a  public  profession  of  his  faith.  The  tendency 
now  is,  perhaps,  to  too  great  haste  in  this  ;  but  this 
duty,  while  it  should  not  be  hurried,  ought  not  to  be 
delayed.  There  should  be  sufficient  time,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  primitive  "  catechumens,"  for  the  true  probation  of 
young  converts,  to  see  whether  the  good  seed  die  not 
when  exposed  to  the  influences  of  the  world. 

But  the  trial  need  only  be  long  enough  for  the  satis- 
factory proof  of  the  real  implantation  of  a  principle  of 
new  life  in  the  heart  ;  and  anything  like  marked  progress 
in  the  graces  of  the  Christian  life  cannot  be  looked  for. 

(5)  Do  not   neglect  young  converts.     This  is  a  great 


47^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

I  sin  of  the  churches  ;   and    for  this   reason  as   much  as  for 
7  any  other,  we  beheve  that  the  churches  languish.      Young 
I   converts  feel   keenly  the   least  neglect   on  the  part  of  the 
church   and    the   pastor.      They   still    lean    upon    others. 
They  are  but  infants  of  a  day  in   the  divine  life.      Their 
spiritual  light  is  fitful  and  unsteady,  and  sometimes  they 
'  are  in  total  darkness.      They  require  continual  sympathy, 
\J  guidance,    teaching,    encouragement,    lest   their  light  go 

out  in  darkness  and  gloom.  It  is  well  for  the  pastor 
to  appoint  meetings  of  prayer  and  conversation  with  the 
young  converts,  to  organize  them,  as  was  suggested,  into 
classes,  if  there  be  a  number  of  them.  In  such  private 
meetings  they  may  be  encouraged  to  speak  more  freely 
of  themselves,  and  to  pray  together,  and  thus  be  gradu- 
ally trained  to  take  their  place  and  do  their  part  in  the 
church.  Church  members  should  be  taught  to  be  inter- 
ested personally  in  young  converts,  to  welcome  them 
warmly,  to  take  them  into  their  friendship,  and  instruct 
them  in  the  way  of  life. 

If  God  gives  to  a  pastor  converts  to  the  truth  he 
preaches,  it  is  his  duty  to  take  care  of  them,  and  not  to 
suffer  them  to  wander  back  into  the  world.  Young 
converts  arc  a  joyful  but  anxious  gift  to  the  pastor. 

(6)  Hold  up  the  truth  that  the  Christian  life  is  a  con- 
flict. Action  and  reaction  are  equal  ;  and  when  the  first 
emotions  of  love  subside,  temptations  revive,  and  peace 
is  gone  ;  the  tide  of  feeling  recedes,  and  leaves  the  soul 
flat  and  spiritless.  It  is  in  trouble  ;  it  believes  that  its 
hope  is  taken  away  ;  but  if  the  young  convert  is  impressed 
with  the  truth  that  he  cannot  be  at  once  a  perfect  man  ; 
that  he  must  not  expect  the  great  results  of  a  Christian 
life  at  its  entrance  ;  that  he  cannot  have  the  crown 
before  he  has  borne  the  cross — palmavi  non  sine  piih'crc  ; 
that  the  Christian  life,  from   beginning  to  end,  is  a  con- 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  479 

stant  struggle,  a  daily  conflict  with  temptation  and  the 
powers  of  evil  ;  then  he  is  not  easily  discouraged  and 
strangely  disappointed  at  the  returning  strength  of  the 
sinful  principle.  Under  such  stern  but  pure  counsel 
the  soul  bf  the  young  Christian  cheerily  rallies  from 
defeat  ;  its  powers  of  manful  resistance  are  called  out  ; 
it  finds  itself  and  its  divine  Saviour.  The  idea  of  self- 
sacrifice,  the  willingness  to  lose  life  for  Christ's  sake,  is 
the  great  and  important  lesson  for  the  young  Christian  to 
learn.  The  strife  against  selfishness,  which  is  sin,  is  the 
life-long  conflict  taken  up  by  the  young  Christian,  even 
as  Luther  translates  (i  Tim.  i  :  18),  "  That  thou  therein 
do  a  knightly  work." 

(7)  Warn  young  converts  as  to  their  friendships,  \ 
occupations,  and  daily  walk  and  living.  Books  of  pith  / 
and  thought,  clearly  defining  religious  principles,  and 
full  of  the  Christian  life,  are  of  special  value  at  such  a 
time.  Religious  biographies  would  be  good,  did  they 
not  most  commonly  have  a  florid  and  unnatural  color- 
ing ;   did   they   not   present   an   impossible    piety.       The 

"  Acts  of  the  Apostles  "   offers  a  noble   study  for  this 

\J 
dawning  period  of  the   spiritual  life.      It  might  be  asked, 

Should  one  throw  up  his  old  worldly  friendships  when  he 

becomes   a   new   man    in    Christ    Jesus  ?     Not   unless   in 

some  way  that  he  cannot  avoid  he  is  drawn  by  them  into 

temptation    and    wrong-doing  ;    but    he   should,    on    the 

contrary,    use  the  power  of  affection  which  he  holds  over 

such  minds  for  their  spiritual  good.      He  has  become  a 

Christian  to  bring  others  to  Christ.      A  Christian  should 

never  be  false  to  his  friendships  ;   his  blood  is  not  chilled  ; 

his  love  is  not  put  out  by  his  Christianity  ;   but  where  he 

cannot  draw  up  a  soul  to  light,  he  cannot  suffer  himself 

to  be  dragged  down  by  it  to  darkness. 

(8)  Exhort  to  the  duty  of  prayer  and  constant  depend- 


480  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ence  upon  the  Holy  Spirit — to  live  by  faith  and  not  by 
sight.  The  Apostle  Paul  asked  certain  disciples  of 
Ephesus,  "  Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye 
believed  ?" — thus  a  special  baptism  and  anointing  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  for  a  new  life  and  service  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  seems  to  be  implied  in  these  and  other  words  of 
Scripture.  To  be  "  filled  v/ith  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with 
power"  surely  is  descriptive  of  those  Christians  who 
manifest  unusual  devotedness  and  efficiency  ;  they  be- 
come to  others  "wells  of  living  waters."  They  belong 
to  a  higher  and  apostolic  type  of  disciples.  A  preacher 
well  known  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  speaks  of  "  get- 
ting power  after  conversion  ;"  and  this  power,  which  is 
given  alone  by  the  Holy  Spirit  in  answer  to  prayer,  and 
as  the  fruit  of  faith,  is  what  every  young  disciple  should 
ardently  and  hopefully  desire  to  obtain. 

Sec.    26.  Revivals  of  Religion. 

This  is  an  old-fashioned  subject  ;  the  current  of  men's 
religious  thinking  and  almost  of  their  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility has  run  away  from  it  ;  we  have  hesitated  long 
before  taking  up  this  subject,  for  it  seems  to  belong  to 
the  experience  of  those  who  have  waged  a  warfare  whose 
reverberations  are  almost  lost  upon  the  ear  while  new  is- 
sues and  interests  have  sprung  up  to  engross  men's  hearts  ; 
but  we  are  afraid  that  by  ignoring  this  topic  we  may  be 
doing  injustice  to  the  truth  there  is  in  it,  and  that  there 
is  truth  in  it,  while  old  ideas  and  methods  do  change, 
both  reason  and  history  prove  ;  and  new  power  may  yet 
spring  up  from  a  rational,  sincere,  and  simple  view  of  an 
old  truth,  just  as  the  nourishing  of  a  plant  that  has  died 
down  to  its  roots  in  the  ground  may  result  in  the  beauti- 
ful flowerinsj  and  fruitaire  of  a  new  life.      The  discussion 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  481 

of  this  theme  by  itself  will  necessarily  involve  some  rep- 
etition of  thoughts  already  set  forth  in  treating  of  con- 
version and  more  spiritual  matters. 

I.   Source  and  philosophy.     That  there  are  periods  of 

spiritual  decline  and    spiritual    reviving  in  a  church,    a 

community,  and  a  nation,  as  there  are  in  an 

individual  soul,  whatever  be  the  cause  of  such     Source  and 

phenomena,  history  shows,     A  writer  of  the  ^  *  °^°^  ^, 
^  ^^  revivals  of 

English  Church  says  :    "  There  are  two  con-       relig-ion 

ditions  necessary  to  a  religious  reformation 
on  a  large  scale  ;  in  the  first  place,  a  deep-rooted  aliena- 
tion of  the  people,  or  of  some  powerful  section  of  the 
people,  from  the  religion  of  the  day,  such  as  was  wit- 
nessed in  the  eras  of  Tetzel  and  Hoadley  ;  and,  in  the 
second  place,  the  rising  of  a  new  force  from  without 
calculated  powerfully  to  affect  religious  thought,  such 
as  the  revival  of  learning  which  preceded  the  Reforma- 
tion, or  the  triumph  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  which 
made  the  Wesleyan  movement  possible."  The  origin 
of  Christianity  was  an  awakening  of  faith  in  God  as  a 
moral  Redeemer  in  the  depth  of  the  world's  immorality, 
at  a  period  of  the  profoundest  declension  of  religious 
faith.  The  first  steps  of  Christianity  were  signalized  by 
new  features  of  great  impressiveness  and  power,  as  in 
the  day  of  Pentecost  ;  of  Peter's  preaching  in  Solo- 
mon's porch  ;  of  Philip's  preaching  in  Samaria  ;  of  the 
missionary  labors  of  believers  who  were  scattered  abroad 
after  the  persecution  and  death  of  Stephen  ;  of  the 
preaching  of  Paul  and  the  other  apostles  of  that  Word 
which  went  through  the  civilized  world  like  a  storm- 
wind  through  a  forest  levelling  old  systems.  If  not 
called  by  the  name  of  "  revivals"  all  through  the  ages 
down   to  these  days,  there  have  been  outbreaks  of  this 


482  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

primitive  energy  of  the  gospel  like  the  periodical  out- 
flow of  a  living  spring.  The  Reformation,  the  religious 
movements  in  the  first  quarter  of  the  seventeenth  century 
in  Scotland  and  England,  the  birth  of  Methodism  bring- 
ing into  activity  one  of  the  dormant  elements  of  the 
gospel — what  were  they  but  revivals  of  religious  faith 
almost  as  spontaneous  as  the  day  of  Pentecost  ?  In 
America  a  more  simple  state  of  society  and  purer  form 
of  Christianity  have  especially  favored  these  revivings  of 
religious  life  ;  and  when  divine  things  are  brought  to  a 
more  rational  and  scriptural  basis,  when  the  divine  and 
the  human  are  better  understood  in  their  interplay,  may 
we  not  expect  greater  developments  than  we  have  ever 
yet  seen  of  the  moral  power  of  the  gospel? 

Let  us  consider  the  source  and  philosophy  of  these 
phenomena  which  are  rightly  enough  called  "  revivals,"  as 
far  as  we  can  arrive  at  them,  because  the  reasons  for 
them  and  the  life  that  is  in  them  have  ever  existed,  ex- 
hibiting themselves  in  new  manifestations  at  certain 
epochs. 

(i)  The  divine  energy.      If  there  be  any  reality  at  all 

in  revivals  of  religion  it   is  true  that  the  divine  energy  is 

their  primary  principle,  and  that  they  belong 

to  the  system  of  God's  spiritual  rulership  of 
energy. 

the  world  ;  and  if  we  did  not  believe  this 
we  certainly  would  abandon  the  whole  theory.  Revivals 
of  religious  faith  are  divine  in  their  origin  or  they  are 
untrue.  The  laws  that  govern  them  are  the  laws  of  the 
Spirit,  in  some  respects  as  uniform  as  the  laws  which 
govern  nature,  but  in  other  respects  more  mystic.  As 
there  is  a  law  of  variety  and  through  it  of  progress  in 
the  natural  world,  so  there  seems  to  be  (and  why  should 
there  not  be  ?)  a  similar  law  of  variety  in  the  spiritual 
v/orld.      Spiritual  as  well  as  physical   forces  may  be  pre- 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS  483 

sumed  to  work  not  with  precisely  the  same  manner  or 
degree  of  movement,  but  there  are,  from  causes  known 
or  unknown,  accumulations  of  force  as  well  as  diminu- 
tions, antagonisms  as  well  as  harmonies,  progression  as 
well  as  retrogression.  In  nature,  which  all  will  acknowl- 
edge to  be  imder  the  immediate  sway  of  God,  there  are 
periods  of  activity  and  of  repose  ;  summer  and  winter  ; 
heat  and  frost  ;  day  and  night;  sunshine  and  shadow  ;  gale 
and  calm  ;  ebb  and  flow.  Seasons  of  quietude  succeed 
seasons  of  immense  life  and  rapid  advancement  ;  and  yet 
all  the  time  the  natural  forces  of  nature  are  at  work,  and 
a  higher  result  is  obtained  than  if  absolute  uniformity  of 
movement  and  operation,  as  in  the  methods  of  human 
science,  prevailed.  We  do  not  doubt  that  God  is  as  truly 
in  the  repose  of  nature  as  in  its  stir  and  visible  growth  ; 
and  that  the  one  is  as  needful  as  the  other.  There  are 
intellectual  and  moral  movements  which  break  the  calm 
—tempests  of  opinion  which  sweep  the  world  and 
change  its  aspect,  such  as  the  revival  of  letters,  the 
period  of  the  renaissance  in  art,  the  crusades,  the  rise 
of  popular  revolutions,  the  abolition  of  slavery  upon  two 
continents,  in  which  the  hand  of  God  is  discernible  if  not 
so  directly  as  in  nature.  Nations  are  born  out  of  new 
germinal  ideas,  and  men  are  changed  they  know  not  how  ; 
and  those  who  will  not  be  changed  and  who  cling  to  the 
old  system,  perish.  A  man  himself  is  not  the  same  at  all 
times,  and  God  has  so  made  us  that  we  cannot  always  be 
doing  the  same  thing  ;  now  we  are  thinking  and  now 
acting  ;  now  feeling  and  now  reflecting  ;  now  aroused 
and  now  indifferent  ;  now  going  on  in  concert  with 
others,  and  now  withdrawn  into  ourselves  ;  and  through 
all  this  diversity,  the  character  is  shaped  and  divine 
results  of  life  are  wrought  out.  These  truths,  as  trans- 
ferred from  the  world  of  nature  to  that  of  spirit,  are  more 


484  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

than  analogies,  for  they  prove  the  unity  of  divine  law 
and  the  wisdom  of  one  supreme  will.  Thus  as  in  nature 
so  in  spirit  the  laws  which  govern  the  advance  of  Christ's 
kingdom  are  varied  while  uniform,  and  evince  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  correlation  of  force.  As  the  Saviour  said — 
"  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the 
ear"- — the  growth  of  the  grain  is  continuous  ;  but  it  is 
also  by  stages  or  epochs — the  blade,  the  ear,  the  full 
corn.  God  is  in  these  epochal  movements,  which  are 
not  so  much  the  life  as  the  expression  of  life,  as  the 
sudden  development  of  a  conservative  force  ;  and  which, 
though  sometimes  they  are  attended  by  violence,  are  not 
the  primary  cause  of  violent  change,  but  the  signs  of 
growth,  of  a  new  accretion  of  life. 

It  is  well  for  us  if  we  can  read  these  signs.  We  see 
the  reason  or  the  naturalness,  so  to  speak,  of  the  solemn 
words  of  the  Saviour  :  "  Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait 
gate  :  for  many,  I  say  unto  you,  will  seek  to  enter  in,  and 
shall  not  be  able  ;"  for  there  are  periods  in  the  spiritual 
world  when  it  is  easy  for  a  soul  and  for  multitudes  to 
press  into  eternal  life  ;  when,  casting  themselves  on  the 
tide  of  divine  power,  numbers  are  borne  on  to  salvation, 
while  those  who  lag  behind  or  resist,  lose  the  oppor- 
tunity. Such  was  the  awakening  when  Christ  stood  on 
the  earth,  when  by  a  simple  act  of  faith  thousands  who 
accepted  him  entered  rejoicing  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 
God  made  it  as  easy  for  them  to  do  so  as  for  the  trees 
to  blossom-  in  spring.  It  was  a  peaceful  though  pow- 
erful revolution.  At  such  times  there  is  openness 
in  the  blessings  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  The  sun 
of  divine  love  shines  with  a  creative  ray.  There  is 
a  harmonious  movement  in  the  spiritual  world,  as  in  the 
spring  or  summer  time,  and  which  is  as  unmistakable  as 
the  season  when   the  trees  leaf  forth,  and  the  air  is  filled 


THE   PASTOR'S   CAKE    OF  SOULS.  485 

with  the  scent  of  fresh  verdure.  Is  it  asked  why  this  is? 
the  answer  is,  this  is  the  method  in  which  the  loving  God 
sometimes  works.  "  The  spirit  of  the  Church  of  God," 
says  Madame  Guyon,  "  is  the  spirit  of  the  divine  move- 
ment," it  is  the  energy  of  love.  But  if  there  were  no  such 
movements,  and  no  such  comprehensive  impulses  of  the 
gracious  Spirit,  it  is  difificult  to  see  how  the  new  life  of  the 
kingdom  is  to  make  advance  against  the  multiform  and  ac- 
cumulative deadening  influences  of  the  world,  and  how 
the  world  is  to  be  regenerated.  The  thoughtful  student 
will  come,  we  think,  to  the  conclusion,  that  although  there 
may  have  been  external  events  in  the  history  of  the  times 
and  of  the  Church,  which  have  favored  any  true  revival  of 
faith,  yet  that  none  of  these  and  all  of  them  combined, 
was  sufficient  to  account  for  it  ;  but  that  when  needed 
most,  and  when  everything  seemed  to  be  languishing 
and  prostrate  in  the  Church,  then  God  came  to  its  help, 
and  by  an  impulse  from  above,  by  a  breath  of  his  spirit, 
changed  all  things.  This  life-producing  or  life-com- 
municating energy  of  the  divine  nature  seems  to  be 
more  peculiarly  ascribed  in  the  Bible  to  the  Holy  Spirit, 
although  there  would  seem  to  be  a  threefold  action  of 
the  Godhead  in  creation  and  redemption.  The  causa- 
tion though  differing,  we  cannot  know  how,  is  still  the 
same  work  ;  and  thus  the  great  source  of  revived  life  in 
the  Church  is  believed  to  be  the  Holy  Spirit — called  some- 
times indeed  in  the  Scriptures  the  Spirit  of  Chiist,  the 
power  of  Christ — who  inbreathes  new  life  ihto  the  soul. 
When  Christ  left  the  world  the  permanent  reign  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  commenced.  He  takes  of  the  things  of 
Christ  and  shows  them  to  men.  He  quickens  the 
minds  of  men  to  receive  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  creating 
yearnings  of  desire  after  the  truth,  touching  with  life 
benumbed  affections,  bringing  about  a  new  disposition, 


486  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

infusing  deeper  thoughts  of  God,  reveahng  God  power- 
fully in  Christ.  We  do  not  yet  probably  begin  to  know 
the  power  and  depth  of  the  Spirit's  presence  in  the  world, 
doubtless  as  real,  as  constantly  operative,  as  infinitely 
potent,  in  the  spiritual  world — in  the  mind  of  every  man 
■ — as  the  unseen  agency  of  God  in  the  physical  world 
and  in  every  plant  and  animated  existence.  In  what 
manner  the  Holy  Spirit  influences  and  renews  the  mind, 
we  may  not  be  able  to  say  ;  neither,  indeed,  can  we  ex- 
plain the  vast  influence  of  one  human  spirit  upon  another. 
The  first  thought  and  aim  then  in  a  true  revival  of 
spiritual  life,  to  look  at  it  in  a  pastoral  and  practical 
point  of  view,  would  seem  to  be  to  win  the  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  the  real  renewing  power.  This,  to  be  sure, 
is  but  inadequate  human  language,  for  the  Spirit  is  not  in 
the  heights  nor  depths,  but  in  the  mind  ;  his  kingdom  is 
"  within  you  ;"  and  his  present  living  power  is,  we 
believe,  specially  with  the  Church  of  Christ,  which  is  the 
sphere  of  his  manifestations  ;  but  in  times  of  religious 
deadness,  the  Spirit,  it  is  right  to  think,  does  not,  and 
perhaps  we  may  say,  cannot,  exert  his  full  influence  upon 
men's  hearts.  For,  let  us  ask,  wJiat  is  a  revival  of  re- 
ligion ?  One  New  England  Church  father  says,  "  By 
revivals  I  mean  special  seasons  in  which  the  minds  of 
men,  within  certain  districts,  or  in  a  certain  congrega- 
tion, are  more  than  usually  susceptible  of  impressions 
from  the  exhibition  of  moral  truth.  The  effects  of  this 
special  influence  are  manifest  in  ministers  and  hearers, 
both  converted  and  unconverted."  A  revival  of  religion, 
more  strictly  speaking,  we  would  say,  is  such 

at  IS  a    ^j^    increased    interest   in  spiritual  things  on 
revival  of       ,  .„,..,,.  ,  , 

J.  .     p     the   part   of    Christian    believers,   that  those 

who  are  unbelievers  and  insensible  to  divine 

things,  also  feel  the  effect  of  this  movement  and  begin  to 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF   SOULS.  487 

experience  a  want  or  an  anxiety  for  their  own  spiritual 
welfare.  A  revival  thus  may  be  said  to  begin  in  the 
Church  or  in  hearts,  or  a  heart,  where  there  is  already 
faith,  for  where  there  is  no  life  how  can  life  be  revived  ? 
There  is  an  awakened  sense  of  the  need  of  God,  and  an 
unusual  power  and  pungency  in  the  divine  truths  of  the 
gospel,  but  the  most  marked  characteristic  of  the  begin- 
nings of  a  revival  is  an  aroused  sense  of  the  loving 
responsibility  of  Christians  toward  their  fellow-men. 
The  Church  feels  its  neglect  of  those  who,  apparently, 
have  no  faith  in  Christ.  This  becomes  an  absorbing 
sense  ;  and  this  feeling  spreads  to  the  unbelieving  them- 
selves. There  is  a  desire  to  hear  the  gospel  of  life 
preached  and  the  plainest  exhibition  of  it  ;  there  is  a 
readiness  to  listen  to  religious  conversation  ;  there  is 
earnestness,  amounting  often  to  mental  distress,  to  know 
the  way  of  the  soul's  everlasting  life. 

Dr.  Bushnell,  in  an  article  in  the  Christian  Spectator, 
has  set  forth  the  view  that  this  is  the  special  ordering  of 
the  Spirit,  that  the  Church  at  certain  times  should  turn 
from  its  own  more  quiet  and  self-edifying  occupations,  to 
be  wholly  taken  up  in  actively  seeking  the  welfare  of 
others — that  this  is  a  healthful  phase  of  the  Church's  life, 
though  not  always  continuing  and  not  possible  to  be 
always  maintained.  He  says,  "  Our  more  tranquil 
periods  are  sometimes  specially  occupied,  or  ought  to  be, 
in  the  correction  of  evil  habits,  or  we  are  particularly 
interested  in  the  study  of  religious  doctrines  necessary  to 
the  vigor  of  our  growth  and  usefulness  ;  or  we  are  in- 
terested to  acquire  useful  knowledge  of  a  more  general 
nature,  in  order  to  our  public  influence  and  the  efficient 
discharge  of  our  ofBce.  But  another  end  prosecuted  by 
the  Spirit,  in  his  work,  is  the  empowering  of  the  Chris- 
tian body,  and  the  extension  of  good   through  them  to 


4S8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  hearts  of  others.  Here,  also,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
changes  and  seasons  of  various  exercise  add  to  the  real 
power  of  the  faith.  The  Spirit  will  reveal  .his  divine 
presence  through  the  Church  by  times  of  holy  excite- 
ment, times  of  reflection,  times  of  solitary  communion, 
times  of  patient  hope.  A  church  standing  always  in  the 
same  posture  and  mode  of  aspect  would  be  only  a  pillar 
of  salt  in  the  eyes  of  men,  it  would  attract  no  attention, 
reveal  no  inhabitation  of  God's  power.  But  suppose  that 
now,  in  a  period  of  no  social  excitement,  it  is  seen  to  be 
growing  in  attachment  to  the  Bible  and  the  house  of 
God,  storing  itself  with  divine  or  useful  knowledge, 
manifesting  a  heavenly-minded  habit  in  the  midst  of  a 
general  rage  for  gain,  devising  plans  of  charity  to  the 
poor  and  afflicted,  reforming  offensive  habits,  chastening 
bosom  sins — suppose,  in  short,  that  principles  adopted 
in  a  former  revival  are  seen  to  hold  fast  as  principles,  to 
prove  their  reality  and  unfold  their  beauty,  when  there 
is  no  longer  any  excitement  to  sustain  them — here  the 
worth  and  reality  of  religious  principles  are  established. 
And  now  let  the  Spirit  move  this  solid  enginery  once 
more  into  glowing  activity,  let  the  Church,  thus 
strengthened,  be  lifted  into  spiritual  courage  and  exalta- 
tion, and  its  every  look  and  act  will  seem  to  be  inhabited 
by  divine  power — it  will  be  as  a  chariot  of  God,  and 
before  it  enemies  will  tremble." 

(2)  The  human  agency.      By   this   it  is  not  meant  that 
there  is  aught  in  man  or  his  effort,  which  alone  and  by  it- 
self can  originate  a  genuine  revival  of  religious 

faith.      Dr.    Bushnell,  in   the  same   article  re- 
agency. 

ferred  to,  says  :  "A  capital  mistake  is  that 
of  supposing  that  we  ought  to  have  a  revival,  so  called, 
or  the  exact  mood  of  a  revival,  at  all  times.  Prodigious 
efforts  are  made  to  rally  the  Church.      The  voice  of  sup- , 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  489 

plication  is  tried.  But  all  in  vain — it  is  praying  against 
God  and  nature,  and  must  be  in  vain.  Effort  spent  in 
this  way  produces  additional  exhaustion  and  discourage- 
ment. A  tedious  intermission  of  life  follows.  At  length 
the  susceptibilities  of  nature  to  excitement  and  attention 
recruit  themselves,  as  by  a  very  long  sleep,  and  there  flames 
out  another  period  of  overworked  zeal  to  be  succeeded 
as  before.  If,  instead  of  such  a  course,  the  disciple 
were  taught  that  God  is  now  leading  him  into  a  new 
variety  of  spiritual  experience,  where  he  has  duties  to 
discharge,  as  clear,  as  high,  as  in  the  revival  itself  ;  if  he 
were  encouraged  to  feel  that  God  is  still  with  him  ;  if  he 
were  shown  what  to  do  and  how  to  improve  the  new 
variety  of  state — taught  the  art  of  growth  in  the  long 
run — how  to  make  the  dews,  the  rain,  the  sun,  and  the 
night,  all  lend  their  aid  alike  —  in  a  word,  if  he  were 
taught  the  great  Christian  art  of  discerning  the  mind  of 
the  Spirit,  so  that  he  shall  be  ever  pliant  thereto — can 
any  one  fail  to  see  that  extremities  of  action  would  thus 
be  greatly  reduced  ?  He  has  not  some  strained  and  forced 
sort  of  religion  to  live  always,  which,  after  all,  no  straining 
or  forcing  can  make  live.  The  pendulum  swings  in  smaller 
vibrations.  There  is  no  wide  chasm  of  dishonor,  no 
strained  pitch  of  extravagance,  but  only  a  sacred  ebb  and 
flow  of  various  and  healthful  zeal.  It  is  the  great  evil  in 
that  sort  of  teaching,  which  insists  on  the  duty  of  being 
always  in  what  is  called  a  revival  state,  that  it  tries  to 
force  an  impossible  religion. ' '  Thus  man's  agency  in  such 
spiritual  movements  seems  to  be  this,  that  he  should  be 
the  humble  instrument  of  the  Divine  Spirit  co-operating 
freely  with  the  Spirit — that  he  should  be  guided  and 
instructed  by  the  Spirit.  Men,  above  all  believing  men, 
should  be  prompt  to  be  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  to 
watch  for  the  manifesting  of  the  Spirit's  influences,  to  do 


490  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

his    will,    to    labor    with    the    Spirit    in    every    indicated 

way. 

The   Holy  Spirit,   surely,    who  is  the  mind  of   God, 

regards  the  laws  and  freedom  of  the  human  spirit  and 

works  through  these.     We   may,   therefore, 

1.     J  J,-  J       study  the  principles  of  God's  action  and  the 
be  studied.  j  r  r 

methods  and  movements  of  the  Divine 
Spirit,  which  never  supersede  what  is  right  or  what  is 
reasonable  ;  and  we  may  thus  learn  how,  in  some  sense, 
to  lay  hold  with  more  certainty  and  success,  of  the  power 
of  God.  There  are  a  number  of  these  laws  or  prin- 
ciples which,  though  familiar,  we  would  more  partic- 
ularly notice.  The  first  principle  which  we  may  observe 
in  times  of  revived  life  in  the  Church,  as  operating  with 
power,  and  yet  which  is  perfectly  natural  and  perfectly 
reasonable,  and  in  accordance  with  the  mind's  laws,  is— 
(a)  The  Spirit's  employment  of  the  truth  as  an  instru- 
ment. Some  persons  have  the  view  that  because  Chris- 
tianity is  a  superhuman  religion,  that  it  is  not  therefore  a 
rational  one,  that  it  does  not  appeal  to  men  as  ordinary 
truths  do,  that  it  is  something  wholly  exceptional  and  out 
of  the  sphere  of  common  motives  of  persuasion  and  con- 
viction, and  that  it  has  no  sort  of  reference  to  ordinary 
methods  of  mental  influence,  or  to  the  general  sound- 
ness and  operation  of  our  intelligence.  But  this  is  an 
error.  Christianity  makes  its  plea  by  way  of  motives  and 
reasons  addressed  to  man's  rational  comprehension  ;  and 
although  its  evidences  are  mostly  of  a  kind  that  appeal 
to  our  higher  nature,  and  not  to  the  logical  understand- 
ing alone — to  the  reason  in  the  sense  of  its  being  that 
faculty  which  apprehends  absolute  truth — yet  it  is  a  relig- 
ion which  respects  man's  mental  being,  fitting  him  to  ac- 
cept a  religion  of  truth  rather  than  a  religion  of  error,  a 
religion  of  the  greater  probability  which  we  are  intelligent- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  491 

]y  to  choose.  It  does  not  speak  to  him  with  an  arbitrary 
but  with  a  reasonable,  persuasive,  and  affectionate  author- 
ity. It  says  beheve  because  you  know  it  is  true.  The 
Spirit  is  called  "  the  Spirit  of  Truth."  He  is  the  Teacher 
of  truth,  a  teacher  abiding  with  men,  and  leading  them 
into  all  truth.  The  Saviour  said,  "  But  the  Comforter 
which  is  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  the  Father  will  send  in 
my  name,  he  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and  bring  all 
things  to  your  remembrance,  whatsoever  I  have  said  unto 
you."  The  Spirit,  we  are  told,  especially  employs  divine 
truth,  the  great  facts,  doctrines,  hopes,  fears,  motives, 
and  attractions  of  the  gospel.  He  accompanies  by  his 
influence  the  preaching  of  Christ.  "  Howbeit  when  he, 
the  Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all 
truth  ;  for  he  shall  not  speak  of  himself  ;  but  whatsoever 
he  shall  hear,  that  shall  he  speak  ;  and  he  will  show  you 
things  to  come.  He  shall  glorify  me  ;  for  he  shall 
receive  of  mine,  and  shall  show  it  unto  you."  "  But 
when  the  Comforter  is  come  whom  I  will  send  unto  you 
from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceed- 
eth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  testify  of  me."  And  in  the 
remainder  of  the  passage  above  cited  Christ  adds  :  "  All 
things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine  ;  therefore  said  I, 
that  he  shall  take  of  mine  and  show  it  unto  you." 
Therefore  we  see  that  the  gospel,  and  the  holding 
forth  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  is  the  employing 
of  that  special  instrumentality  which  the  Spirit  blesses 
and  wields  to  the  searching  and  subduing  of  men's 
hearts.  We  cannot  be  wrong  then,  in  the  using  of 
divine  truth  for  the  conversion  of  men,  and  in  using 
it  with  the  faith  that  the  Spirit  does  accompany  it 
with  a  renewing  power.  "  And  my  speech  and  my 
preaching  was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom, 
but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power."     We 


492  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

do  not  believe  that  the  Truth  converts  without  the  Spirit. 
The  Truth  itself  does  not  regenerate  men's  souls.  The 
Truth  does  not  stand  alone,  but  it  has  relation  also  to  the 
subject  of  its  appeal — to  the  state  of  that  subject's  recep- 
tivity. The  Spirit  opens  the  eyes  of  the  understanding 
that  it  may  apprehend  and  receive  the  truth.  There  is  a 
primary  change  in  the  sinner's  heart  by  the  power  of 
God  before  he  will  lovingly  embrace  the  truth.  But 
the  gospel  is  the  main  instrument  of  the  Spirit.  "  The 
sword  of  the  Spirit  which  is  the  word  of  God."  The 
simplest  men  by  wielding  this  sword  may  produce  im- 
mense results.  Mr.  Moody's  method  of  preaching  would 
seem  to  be  by  the  arraying  of  carefully  chosen  texts  or 
passages  of  Scripture,  accompanied  by  brief  earnest 
exhortation  intended  to  point  the  divine  truth  to  every 
man's  conscience  and  heart — thus  pouring  in  upon  the 
soul  of  the  hearer  the  weighty  words  of  the  eternal  God  till 
every  defence  is  battered  down  and  sin  is  slain.  It  is  the 
use  of  the  bare  edge  of  the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  with 
little  in  the  way  of  human  argument,  or  logic,  inter- 
vening. Above  all,  it  is  the  exhibition  of  that  Love 
which  is  the  core  and  essence  of  converting  truth — the 
expression  of  the  very  heart  of  God  toward  man.  We 
would  not  advocate  all  the  methods  of  revival  exhorters 
and  preachers,  but  whatever  will  reach  the  masses  of 
people  with  thoroughly  reformative  influences,  making 
them  sober,  temperate,  honest  men  and  women,  the  true 
followers  of  Christ,  we  will  not  be  bold  enough  to  con- 
demn. 

{b)  The  holding  of  men's  minds  under  the  power  of 
truth.  This  fact  or  principle  is  an  immense  point  gained, 
and  is  that  familiar  and  powerful  law  of  the  mind  which 
psychologists  call  "attention,"  which  the  Holy  Spirit 
himself    may   employ.      Continuous    attention    deepens 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  493 

impression,  and  the  truth  thus  works  its  w^ay  into  the 
depths  of  the  soul,  awaking  its  profoundest  suscepti- 
bilities. The  battle  is  gained,  humanly  speaking,  when 
men  can  be  induced  to  give  their  every  thought  to 
spiritual  truth,"  to  look  upon  it  as  real.  The  Holy  Spirit 
in  times  of  revival  doubtless  seizes  this  principle,  increas- 
ing and  intensifying  its  power.  Everything,  therefore, 
which  aids  the  depth,  fixedness,  and  exclusiveness  of 
attention  to  divine  things,  on  the  part  of  a  congregation 
or  a  community  at  such  a  time,  should  be  studied. 
Christians,  and  above  all  the  pastor,  should  see  to  it  that 
the  minds  of  the  thoughtless  should  be  brought  under 
the  powerful  and  constant  presentation  of  the  truth  ;  that 
they  should  be  held  to  or  under  it  until  the  truth  burns 
itself  into  their  souls,  and  sets  on  fire  the  whole  nature 
with  the  flame  of  a  new  affection.  By  preaching  and 
exhortation  addressed  with  personal  directness  there  is 
accumulated  concentrated  power  of  divine  truth  upon 
minds  ;  and  here  the  pastor's  responsibility  is  especially 
involved. 

{c)  The  arousing  of  the  distinct  expectation  of  a  good 
to  be  attained.  The  excitation  of  desire  for  any  good 
leads  almost  inevitably  to  its  attainment.  Desire  is 
awaked  by  having  an  object  of  desire  set  before  the 
mind,  an  object  which  is  great  in  itself,  and  which,  more- 
over, seems  to  have  become  attainable.  When  a  general 
desire  for  the  attainment  of  salvation  has  become  the 
great  object  of  a  community,  when  it  is  felt  to  be  the 
most  important  of  all  objects  to  be  obtained,  and  when 
here  and  there  some  have  already  obtained  it — this  new 
expectation  of  desire  for  the  attainment  of  an  immense 
good  is  itself  a  mighty  power.  It  should  be  kept  alive, 
and  it  is. perfectly  right  to  do  so  ;  for  it  is  the  most  legiti- 
mate object  of  all  human  desire  and  hope.     But  this  desire 


494  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

should  be  kept  pure  from  selfish,  worldly,  emulous,  and 
merely  human  motives.  The  pure  rewards  and  joys  of 
salvation  may  be  rightly  employed  as  motives,  and  the 
rich  prize  of  eternal  life  should  be  held  up  before  the  eye 
of  the  awakened  desire.  Great  desires,  great  hopes,  and 
prayers  for  great  things  are  in  harmony  with  God's  great 
nature  and  love.  He  loves  to  meet  these  large  expecta- 
tions, to  fill  and  satisfy  them.  In  such  a  new  and  heav- 
enly atmosphere  of  hope,  itself  the  fruit  of  the  Holy 
Spirit's  influences,  even  the  dead,  impenitent  soul  will 
feel  new  life  thrill  and  have  hopes  and  desires  awaked  for 
itself.  Let  this  feeling  of  blessed  expectation  and  confi- 
dence in  God  that  he  will  do  great  things  be  carefully 
nourished,  not  indeed  running  ahead  too  confidently  of 
the  indications  of  the  Spirit,  but  sedulously  watching  and 
cherishing  them.  Pastors  above  all  should  have  these  deli- 
cate perceptions  of  spiritual  currents  and  movements,  as 
being  men  of  prayer  and  of  pure  hearts.  We  may  take 
it  for  granted  that  God  truly  desires  to  bless  us,  and  that 
he  will  surely  grant  his  blessing  to  the  faithful  efforts  and 
prayers  of  his  children.  The  absolute  confidence  must 
rest  upon  God,  and  not  upon  human  efforts  or  human 
measures  for  awakening  and  sustaining  a  revival.  The 
grand  and  essentially  noble  motto  of  the  former  school 
of  theologians  and  revival  preachers,  "  Expect  great 
things  and  you  will  have  them,"  may  be  overdone,  and 
thus  imperceptibly  carried  to  an  audacious  and  irreverent 
extent,  defeating  its  own  end. 

[d)  The  operation  of  the  law  of  sympathy.  This, 
we  know,  is  a  great  power,  for  we  are  made  to  act  and 
react  one  upon  another  by  reciprocity  of  thought  and 
feeling  ;  and  can  we  doubt  that  the  Holy  Spirit  will 
fail  to  use  this  important  law  of  our  nature  ?  I  cannot 
remain    totally    unaffected    by    what    my    neighbor,    my 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  495 

friend,  thinks  and  feels  ;  and  ought  I  indeed  to  remain 
impassive  if  his  feelings  are  right?  Was  it  meant  for 
me  to  be  uninfluenced  in  such  circumstances  ?  It  is 
said  that  every  man  is  strengthened  in  his  opinion  if 
he  can  get  one  other  man  to  share  his  opinion  with 
him  ;  and  thus  spiritual  feelings,  thoughts,  and  con- 
victions are  deepened  and  diffused  by  this  interpenetra- 
tion  of  a  common  sympathy  through  a  whole  congrega- 
tion or  community.  "  A  serious  person  warned  Wesley 
in  his  youth  that  the  Bible  knows  nothing  of  solitary 
religion.  '  Sir,  you  wish  to  serve  God  and  go  to  heaven  ; 
you  must  therefore  find  companions  or  make  them.' 
The  Church  itself  is  reared  upon  the  social  principle,  and 
would  fall  to  pieces  without  it,  for  it  must  be  made  up  of 
many  members,  and  all  the  members  must  be  pervaded 
by  one  purpose  and  affection  to  have  unity,  and  where 
there  is  life  in  the  body  every  member  feels  what  another 
feels.  Singularly  enough,  Thomas  Carlyle,  is  an  indirect 
and  unexpected  witness  here  of  the  relations  of  the  social 
principle  to  religion  and  religious  life.  Writing  upon  the 
topic  of  "  Society,"  he  says  :  "  The  devout  meditation  of 
the  isolated  man,  which  flitted  through  his  soul,  like  a 
transient  tone  of  Love  and  Awe  from  unknown  lands, 
acquires  certainty  and  continuance  when  it  is  shared  in 
by  his  brother-men.  '  Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  '  in  the  name  of  the  Highest,  there  first  does 
the  Highest,  as  it  is  written,  '  appear  among  them  to 
bless  them  ;  '  there  first  does  an  Altar  and  act  of  united 
Worship  open  a  way  from  Earth  to  Heaven  ;  whereon, 
were  it  but  a  simple  Jacob's-ladder,  the  heavenly  Mes- 
sengers will  travel,  with  glad  tidings  and  unspeakable 
gifts  to  men.  Such  is  Society,  the  vital  articulation  of 
many  individuals  into  a  new  collective  individual  ;  greatly 
the  most  important  of  man's  attainments  on  this  earth  ; 


496  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

that  in  which,  and  by  virtue  of  which,  all  his  other  at- 
tainments and  attempts  find  their  arena,  and  have  their 
value.  Considered  well,  Society  is  the  standing-wonder 
of  our  existence  ;  a  true  region  of  the  Supernatural  ;  as 
it  were,  a  second  all-embracing  Life,  wherein  our  first  in- 
dividual Life  becomes  doubly  and  trebly  alive,  and  what- 
ever of  Infinitude  was  in  us  bodies  itself  forth,  and  be- 
comes visible  and  active."  This  law  of  sympathy  may, 
however,  become  so  intensely  active  as  to  destroy  the 
equilibrium  of  those  faculties  which  enter  into  a  common 
religious  life.  A  pure  revival  of  religion  does  not  consist 
in  mere  feeling,  and,  above  all,  "  in  a  riot  of  the  emo- 
tions." The  moral  element  is  thereby  lost  sight  of  ; 
though  the  energizing  element  in  a  deep  revival  of  relig- 
ion is  that  nQ-w  feeling  toward  God  which  fires  the  rea- 
son, influences  the  conscience  and  impels  the  will.  It  is 
indeed  like  a  fire  which  catches  and  diffuses  itself  rapidly 
through  hearts.  Where  this  powerful  element  of  sympa- 
thy degenerates  into  a  mere  fervor  of  sentimental  or 
nervous  excitement,  it  is  indeed  highly  injurious  ;  but  it 
need  not  do  so,  and  it  should  be  carefully  kept  like  a 
sacred  flame  within  the  sphere  of  the  higher  moral  sensi- 
bilities. 

ie)  The  natural  desire  in  man  to  share  the  happiness 
which  other  men  enjoy.  This  also  belongs  to  the  social 
nature  and  is  a  perfectly  innocent  and  legitimate  principle 
of  the  mind  when  not  carried  to  an  extreme  and  spent 
upon  low  objects  of  pursuit.  When  impenitent  men 
see  their  neighbors,  friends,  and  even  dearest  relations 
.pressing  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  laying  hold  of  the 
highest  good,  and  expressing  the  purest  joy  in  their  new- 
found hope,  it  would  not  be  human  for  them  also  not  to 
desire  to  share  in  the  same  good  and  happiness.  They 
too  may  be  equally  happy,  they  think,  and  why  should 


THE  PASTOR'S  CARE    OF  SOULS.  497 

they  not  be  ?  Christians  may  and  should  say  to  those 
about  them,  "  Come  with  us  and  we  will  do  you  good, 
and  we  will  show  you  the  same  source  of  joy,  where  we 
and  others  have  obtained  our  peace  and  heavenly  hope. " 
Young  converts  in  this  way  are  more  influential  for  good 
than  older  Christians,  for  their  happiness  is  fresher,  and 
its  spring  seems  nearer  to  them  and  its  way  more  open 
and  free  to  point  out  to  others. 

(_/)  The  peculiar  thoughtful  seriousness,  it  might  be 
termed  solemnity,  which  the  fact  of  the  presence  of  God 
working  simultaneously  upon  many  minds  awakens  in  a 
communicy.  This  is  another  result  of  the  sympathetic 
principle.  Few  minds  can  entirely  resist  the  feeling  of 
thoughtful  solemnity  which  pervades  a  community  when 
under  the  influence  of  divine  truths.  The  shadow  of 
eternity  passing  over  a  place  deepens  the  thoughts  of 
all  hearts  and  makes  the  things  of  God  more  vividly  real 
than  before. 

^g)  The  greater  ease  with  which  religion  is  sought  and 
obtained  in  a  time  of  general  interest  in  religious  things. 
When  all  men  are  seeking,  then  the  individual  mind  finds 
greater  facility  in  seeking  its  own  welfare.  Common 
obstacles  seem  to  be  no  longer  so  formidable.  The  tidal 
wave  carries  the  mind  over  them.  The  influence  of  un- 
believing and  opposing  friends  is  neutralized  by  the 
influence  of  numbers  pressing  in  the  other  direction. 
The  example  of  others  makes  it  less  difficult  to  drop  evil 
habits  and  occupations.  One  can  also  come  more  quickly 
to  a  decision  at  such  a  moment  ;  the  feeling  is,  "  Now  is 
the  time  for  me  to  seek  the  salvation  of  my  soul  ;  now  is 
the  time  to  cast  myself  upon  the  broad  current  that  sets 
toward  heaven.  I  must  be  quick  or  I  lose  the  tide. 
Never  will  it  be  so  easy  for  me  to  become  a  Christian  as 
it  is  now.     If  this  person  and  that  person,  men  no  better 


498  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

than  I,  and  perhaps  some  whose  outward  lives  have  not 
been  so  fair  as  mine,  can  be  saved,  why  not  I  ?"  The 
wholesome  sentiment  of  fear,  of  fear  vibrating  to  the 
depths  of  the  soul,  of  fear  lest  the  soul  at  last  may  fail 
of  its  salvation,  also  takes  hold  of  the  spirit  and  quickens 
its  decision. 

Many  more  such  natural  principles,  mental  laws,  and 
motives  of  action  might  be  mentioned,  as  being  brought 
into  lively  operation  in  the  time  of  religious  revival, 
which  are  perfectly  legitimate,  perfectly  in  accordance 
with  the  works  of  God,  who  created  the  human  mind 
and  gave  it  these  laws,  to  be  acted  with  and  upon  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  in  connection  with  the  progress  and  building 
up  of  his  kingdom  among  men.  Would  It  be  right  for 
us  as  pastors  and  laborers  for  and  with  God  utterly  to 
neglect  those  laws,  those  motive-powers  of  the  mind,  in 
striving  to  bring  men  more  rapidly  into  the  kingdom  of 
God  ?  Can  we  bring  them  in  too  rapidly — can  we  bring 
in  too  many  at  once  ?  We  should  thus  study  the  laws  of 
the  mind,  as  well  as  the  methods  of  the  Spirit,  in  relation 
to  the  multiplication  and  enlargement  of  spiritual  power, 
and  the  greater  triumph  of  Christ's  truth  in  men's  hearts. 
He  is  wise,  and  he  will  be  approved  of  God,  who  humbly 
and  prayerfully  labors  to  make  himself  skilful  in  the  ap- 
plication of  any  legitimate  power,  influence,  and  motive 
to  bring  about  the  highest  good  of  men,  and  of  the 
greatest  number  of  men,  not  forgetting  the  higher  and 
far  more  important  truth  that  the  Holy  Spirit  alone  is 
the  author  of  new  life  in  dead  souls,  and  that  without 
him  we  can  do  nothing. 

2.  Means  of  promoting  revivals  of  religion,  {a)  Prayer  : 
We  need  not  dwell  on  this.  The  meaning  and  end  of  a 
revival  is  that  the  life-giving  influences  of  the  Spirit 
should    be    felt    in    men's    hearts,    or    that  men's  hearts 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  499 

should  be  brought  under  the  power  of    that  Spirit,   for 
whose    coming    Christ   withdrew   himself  so  jy[g^j^g  ^f     q_ 
that  his  dominion  might  be  more  spiritual,       moting 
universal   and    perfect.       Christ   present   by    revivals  of 
the  Spirit  is  tnore  powerful  than  he  is  when     "  igion. 
present   in   body.     The   Holy   Spirit,   we  are  taught  by 
Scripture,  is  sent  in  special  power  to  those  who  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness,  after  the  life  of  God,  who 
ask  the  Heavenly  Father  for  the  comprehensive  gift  of 
the  Spirit  in  childlike  faith  and  with  importunity,  who 
have   the   receptive    mind.      Such    shall    be    filled.      The 
Holy  Spirit,  we  are  expressly  taught,  is  given  through 
prayer. 

This  feeling  of  yearning  desire  for  and  dependence  on 
the  Holy  Spirit  may  be  first  aroused  in  the  breast  of  the 
pastor,  sorrowing  over  his  own  deadness  and  that  of  his 
people.  This  is  commonly  the  case.  There  have  been 
many  such  instances,  where  a  young  minister  had  for  the 
first  time  felt  spiritual  truth  deeply  ;  he  has  obtained  a 
new  sight  ;  he  has  waked  at  last  to  the  reality  of  his  own 
work  ;  he  feels  his  needs  ;  he  feels  the  needs  of  his  peo- 
ple ;  he  must  strive  with  God  alone.  The  pastoral  anx- 
iety for  the  people  is  the  fit  and  natural  beginning  of  a 
revival  of  faith  ;  and  one  must  have  this  desire  in  his  own 
heart  if  he  expects  his  people  to  have  it.  If  he  is  a  man 
who  is  too  much  absorbed  in  scholarly  pursuits,  or  in 
politics,  or  even  in  doctrinal  theology  and  controversy  ; 
if  he  is  too  timid,  fastidious,  and  over-cautious  in  regard 
to  the  undue  excitement  of  religious  revivals  ;  or  if  he  is 
a  man,  above  all,  who  has  no  real  and  hearty  faith  in  the 
gospel  and  the  work  of  the  Spirit,  these  things  operate  as 
a  damper  upon  such  an  interest  ;  though  sometimes  the 
interest  will  spring  up  and  go  on  in  spite  of  the  pastor's 
want  of  sympathy.      But   what   a   great   power  is  in  his 


500  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

hands  to  keep  alive  or  to  extinguish  religious  feeling  ! 
In  the  heart  of  the  true  pastor,  then,  the  feeble  flame  of 
desire  which  never  quite  goes  out,  is  kept  alive  and  in- 
creased by  prayer — that  is,  such  is  often  the  history  of 
the  beginnings  of  a  reviving  of  spiritual  life  ;  we  now  go 
on  to  mention  the  methods  that  in  the  New  England 
churches,  among  simple  Christian  disciples  of  the  past 
two  centuries,  were  found  available  ;  and  if  newer  times 
have  better  methods  they  should  surely  be  adopted.  The 
pastor  may,  perhaps,  almost  accidentally  discover  that 
there  is  another  one  in  the  Church  equally  earnest  and 
equally  impelled  to  seek  the  aid  of  prayer.  He  joins 
with  such  a  one  in  prayer  for  the  reviving  of  the  Spirit. 
Another  and  another  are  found  to  come  in,  who  bring 
earnestness  of  desire  and  the  spirit  of  supplication  with 
•them.  This  little  prayer-meeting  held  in  the  pastor's 
study,  it  may  be,  is  at  first  a  strictly  private  one,  and  is 
devoted  almost  entirely  to  fervent  prayers  for  the  life- 
giving  influences  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  If  these  petitions 
are  answered,  and  if  sincere  they  will  be,  in  a  way  that 
God  sees  fit,  the  spirit  of  prayer  among  church-members 
will  soon  be  more  generally  manifested.  A  more  open  and 
public  meeting  of  prayer,  but  still  confined  to  those  who 
are  church-members,  may  finally  be  called.  This  meet- 
ing should  not  be  called  until  there  seems  to  be  a  demand 
for  it.  It  should  not  have  the  appearance  of  being — it 
should  not  be  one  part  of  a  mechanism  contrived  to 
produce  an  unusual  state  of  religious  feeling  ;  but  it 
should  be  the  result  of  a  true  and  spontaneous  desire 
awakened  in  the  Church  for  united  prayer. 

This  is  almost  exclusively  a  prayer-meeting,  with  few 
addresses,  and  those  of  a  character  the  most  simply  ex- 
pressive of  the  wants  of  the  heart,  and  setting  forth  the 
living  elements  of  the  gospel  and  its  rich  promises.     The 


THE   PASTOR'S   CAKE   OF  SOULS.  501 

prevailing  character  of  the  prayer-meeting  is  penitential 
— the  confession  of  sin  and  want,  the  lenten  season  of 
the  soul,  its  humiliation  before  God.  If  there  is  depth  of 
feeling  in  this  meeting  it  is  continued,  and  its  character 
somewhat  changed.  It  may  be  thought  well  after  a 
time  to  open  the  meeting  to  all  who  choose  to  come. 
But  this  should  be  done  in  a  judicious  way  so  as  not  to 
raise  a  false  expectation,  a  false  excitement.  Let  us 
clear  all  cant  from  our  minds. 

Care  should  be  taken  to  select  those  to  pray  and  speak 
who  are  sincere  Christians,  and  who  have  the  spirit  of 
prayer.  Men  of  dubious  Christian  character,  who  only 
appear  on  the  surface  in  times  of  peculiar  interest,  should 
not  be  encouraged  to  be  prominent.  No  false  attractions 
are  to  be  thrown  around  the  meeting,  no  brilliant  or  sensa- 
tional speaking,  no  extravagant  and  passionate  exhorta- 
tions, nothing,  as  far  as  possible,  to  break  up  its  humble 
and  devout  character.  The  answers  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
we  may  reverentl)*  predict,  will  be  seen  in  the  new  depth 
of  penitential  feeling,  and  the  bringing  out  of  a  higher 
spiritual  life  and  more  real  faith  in  the  presence  and  love 
of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  coming  of  his  kingdom.  Be- 
lievers themselves  will  become  purer  instruments  of 
God's  will  to  hold  forth  the  truth  to  all  men.  A  New 
England  father  used  to  say  :  "I  never  could  converse 
with  impenitent  men  unless  my  own  heart  was  broken 
on  account  of  its  sins,  and  felt  as  if  it  had  just  received, 
for  the  first  time,  the  pardon  of  God's  love  through 
Christ." 

If  through  the  personal  efforts  and  conversation  of  such 
thoroughly  awakened  souls  other  souls  are  awakened  to 
come  in  from  the  Church  and  the  world,  they  will  then 
come  not  from  curiosity  but  from  right  motives,  and 
their  presence  will  arouse  still  more  earnest  and  direct 


502  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

petitions.  In  the  prayer-meeting  the  Holy  Spirit  is  left 
to  rule  over  all  exercises,  and  the  prayer  is  addressed 
solely  to  God,  the  pastor  himself  setting  the  example  of 
brief,  simple,  direct,  solemn,  fervent  petition,  "  praying 
in  the  Spirit."  The  ambitious  and  human  element  in  the 
prayer  is  kept  down  or  excluded. 

The  great  prevailing  idea  in  the  prayer  for  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  for  the  aid  of  God,  union  with  God,  laying  hold 
upon  Christ's  strength  to  save. 

{b)  Preaching  at  such  a  time  should  be  a  main  instru- 
mentality. More  pungent  and  plain  preaching  has 
always  been  a  means  of  increasing  a  religious  interest. 
It  is  necessary  that  a  people,  whose  feelings  are  awak- 
ened on  religious  things,  should  be  correspondingly  in- 
structed, or  the  enthusiasm  resolves  itself  into  flame  that 
burns  out  like  a  fire  without  fuel.  Preaching  too  is 
essential  in  order  to  remove  difficulties,  as  well  as  to 
present  the  way  of  salvation.  Preaching  should  be  in 
correspondence  with  the  needs  of  the  -various  stages  of 
spiritual  life  ;  it  should  be  "  the  bringing  forth  of 
things  new  and  old,"  and  at  such  a  time  we  might  say, 
perhaps,  especially  of  the  "new."  It  should  be  ani- 
mated, striking,  varied,  appropriate  ;  but  it  should  not 
fail  to  dwell  upon  the  elements  of  Christian  Truth  with 
their  living  applications  to  heart  and  conscience.  It  is 
absolutely  essential  that  men,  all  men,  at  such  a  time 
should  understand  clearly,  as  if  written  by  a  sunbeam, 
what  is  their  duty  and  what  are  their  true  relations  to 
God.  Sermons  addressed  to  members  of  the  Church 
are  profitable.  It  was  the  testimony  of  a  skilful  winner 
of  souls  that  "  conversions  were  to  be  expected  only  in 
proportion  as  Christians  embody  Christian  faith  in  Chris- 
tian action."  Christians  should  be  told  their  duties 
plainly  though    kindly.      Is    the  spirit   of    covetousness 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE   OF  SOULS.  503 

growing  among  them  ?  Are  they  passing  the  bounds 
of  Christian  temperance  ?  Are  they  becoming  merely 
selfish  and  pleasure-loving  people  ?  Are  they  linked  in 
with  any  prevailing  form  of  iniquity  ?  Let  them  be  told 
this  fearlessly  in  the  spirit  of  love.  In  connection  with 
this  the  general  purity  of  the  Church  should  not  be  lost 
sight  of.  God's  children  must  put  away  their  own  sins 
before  they  can  expect  others  to  do.  the  same.  Yet  too 
much  time  should  not  be  consumed  in  endeavoring  to 
arouse  and  make  ready  the  church.  The  church  will 
commonly  be  more  and  more  awakened  at  such  a  time. 
Therefore  let  not  the  preacher  delay  too  long  upon  the 
wants  of  the  church  before  preaching  to  men  who 
sorely  need  the  healings  and  comforts  of  the  gospel. 

In  this  preaching  let  one  not  fear  to  enter  into  man's 
intellectual  nature,  to  be  metaphysical,  to  lay  bare  the 
principles  of  motive  and  choice.  One  should  seek  to 
reveal  the  heart  to  itself  under  the  light  of  God's  perfect 
will — in  fact,  to  preach  directly  to  the  conscience.  An- 
other has  said  :  "  The  neglect  of  a  due  study  and  enforc- 
ing of  the  law  is  the  reason  why  there  is  so  little  that  is 
strong  and  saving,  so  little  that  is  likely  to  take  hold  of 
the  heart,  and  so  much  that  is  superficial  or  feeble.  The 
law  of  God  is  not  brought  home  so  as  to  do  its  work 
upon  the  heart,  so  as  to  penetrate  deeply  enough  to  take 
root.  There  is  not  enough  of  effort  to  show  the  people 
the  principles  of  moral  obligation,  the  nature  of  sin,  and 
the  terrible  evil  that  is  in  it.  Most  preachers  treat  of  sin 
as  if  they  had  never  felt  its  bitterness,  as  if  it  was  a 
very  different  thing  from  what  it  really  is,  something 
much  less  than  that  evil  which  sin  is."  The  same  writer 
says  :  "  There  should  be  this  thorough  work,  this 
searching,  stripping,  humbling  work  ;  as  men  feel  and 
fear  sin,  so   do  they  prize  mercy — prize  it  in  the  heart. 


504  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

The  touchstone  of  a  sincere  repentance  is  that  we  love 
the  law  of  God  in  all  its  holiness  and  spirituality.  This 
gives  us  definite  ideas  of  ourselves  and  of  our  spiritual 
condition  ;  for  by  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin.  The 
convicting  element  of  divine  truth  is  the  law  of  God  ap- 
plied by  the  Spirit  to  the  heart." 

One  should  thus  preach  upon  the  obligations  of  men 
and  the  consequences  of  continued  transgression.  He 
should  preach  on  the  duty  of  immediate  repentance  and 
reconciliation  with  God  ;  that  there  is  no  time  in  eternal 
things  ;  that  it  takes  no  time  to  obey  and  love  God  ; 
that  one  cannot  do  it  too  soon,  as  "  now  is  the  accepted 
time,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation  ; ' '  that  one,  in  fine,  should 
always  love  God.  He  should  preach  upon  the  needed 
influence  and  grace  of  the  Spirit,  and,  above  all,  upon 
the  love  of  God  in  Christ,  the  open  way,  the  free  pardon, 
and  the  true  life  in  Christ.  He  should  preach  "  the  good 
tidings."  Christ  should  be  set  forth  as  the  fountain  o^ 
spiritual  life,  as  the  hope  of  the  soul.  The  gospel  of 
peace  by  faith,  of  instant  obedience  to  the  claims  of  Christ, 
of  coming  into  loving  personal  relations  with  him  and 
taking  his  cross  and  following  him,  is  the  vital  theme. 
The  power  of  such  periods  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  tend 
to  bring  men  to  a  crisis  in  regard  to  Christ,  Men  have 
to  decide  for  or  against  Christ.  The  truth  that  the 
Spirit  of  Christ  is  moving  on  the  minds  of  men  in  the  time 
of  revival  should  be  made  the  ground  of  earnest  appeal 
to  the  immediate  choice  of  Christ  as  Lord  of  the  soul. 

The  preaching  should  not  settle  down  into  a  hard,  in- 
tense, disheartening  track,  pressing,  and  pressing,  and 
pressing  upon  the  sinner,  with  no  light  of  hope,  or  of  any 
other  kind  of  religious  interest  or  varied  instruction  in 
it.  Life,  encouraging,  hopeful,  restful,  blessed,  is  found 
in  the  gospel,  is  contained  in  the  truth  that  is  in  Christ. 


THE  PASTOR'S  CARE    OF   SOULS.  505 

The  gospel  is  a  word  of  life.  Therefore,  while  earnest,  the 
preaching  should  be  pervaded  through  and  through  with 
the  hopeful  spirit,  and  should  burst  on  the  despairing 
soul  like  the  throwing  open  of  the  windows  of  a  darkened 
room  to  let  in  the  sunshine.  The  gospel  should  be 
preached  in  an  animated  way  with  much  of  apt  and  living 
illustration. 

The  distinguishing  features  of  true  and  false  conversion 
should  be  discriminately  marked.  The  delineation  of  the 
beginnings  of  the  new  Christian  life  in  the  soul — not  too 
'ideal,  but  moderate  and  real — should  be  drawn  as  a  kind 
of  chart  for  young  voyagers  to  take  their  bearings  from. 
The  pastor  should  do  the  preaching  himself,  if  possible, 
although  help  is  sometimes  necessary  ;  but  when  the 
pastor  has  sufificient  strength  to  conduct  his  own  preach- 
ing, this  is  better  than  to  bring  in  a  stranger  to  take  the 
staiT  out  of  his  hands,  and  to  arouse,  perhaps,  false  ex- 
citement. The  difficulty  often  with  professedly  revival 
preachers  is,  that,  though  good  men,  they  have  their 
crotchets,  and  they  must  run  all  souls  through  the  same 
modesof  treatment,  and  have  them  converted  in  the  same 
way,  and  that  their  own  way.  We  lower  the  power  of 
the  ordinary  instrumentality  of  the  preaching  of  the  gos- 
pel by  employing  extraordinary  means.  A  true  revival 
of  religion  should  have  as  little  of  the  extraordinary  in  it 
as  possible.  It  should  be  natural.  It  should  be  a  season 
of  the  more  rapid  germination  of  the  seed  sown,  and  no 
hot-house  heat  is  needed.  Yet  of  course  there  are  ex- 
ceptions  to  this  general  rule. 

The  pastor  should  not,  if  he  can  avoid  it,  go  away  upon 
a  vacation  and  leave  the  field  during  the  progress  of  a 
period  of  rehgious  interest,  or,  more  than  all,  at  its  be- 
ginnings, even  as  a  general  cannot  desert  his  army  at  the 
beginninfj  of  a  battle. 


5o6  ■  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

{f)  Personal  conversation  and  the  meeting  of  inquiry 

and  instruction.      Personal  conversation  with  those  who 

are  thoughtful  and  anxious  about  their  spirit- 
Personal  ,  111  1-1 
ual   estate,  and    those   who   are   hoping  and 
conversation.  ^      ° 

have  reason  to  hope  good  things  respecting 
themselves,  is  of  use  as  bringing  in  the  aid  of  hu- 
man experience  and  sympathy.  Guidance,  experience, 
and  impulse  are  doubtless  meant  to  be  effective 
agencies  in  promoting  the  conversion  of  men.  The 
whole  church  should  be  aroused  to  the  duty  of  con- 
versing with  those  who  are  Inquiring  the  way  of  life  ; 
but  this  service  should  not  be  indiscriminately  urged. 
It  is  a  difficult  and  delicate  work.  Those  who  are  best 
fitted  by  their  piety,  purity,  and  intelligence,  should  be 
especially  assigned  to  this  duty,  and,  after  all,  this  is 
mainly  the  pastor's  work.  But  in  order  that  this  duty 
may  be  conducted  with  more  of  regularity,  perhaps 
what  is  called  a  meeting  for  inquiry  may  be  estab- 
lished ;  and  here,  of  course,  the  pastor  is  the  chief 
instructor,  although  not  necessarily  so.  As  to  the  con- 
versation of  the  pastor  with  those  who  are  seeking  the 
way  of  life,  a  pastor  does  not  know  how  much  of 
religious  interest  there  is  in  his  congregation  until  he 
talks  with  the  individual  members  of  it,  or  perhaps 
establishes  a  regular  meeting  for  this  purpose.  He  may 
do  this  as  soon  as  there  are  a  number  who  are  de- 
cidedly thoughtful  on  religious  subjects,  and  this  will 
develop  others.  Such  a  meeting  is  useful  at  the  proper 
time,  because  it  in  some  sense  pledges  those  who  attend  it 
to  an  earnest  attention  to  religious  things,  and  perhaps  im- 
mediate decision  on  them.  It  also  gives  an  opportunity 
for  imparting  instruction  as  to  the  way  of  salvation.  Of 
this  the  impenitent  inquirer  may  still  be  ignorant, 
although  awaked  to  the  necessity  of  seeking  his  salva- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  507 

tion.  The  pastor  himself  is  quickened  by  coming  in 
contact  with  anxious  minds  that  are  moved  upon  by  the 
Holy  Spirit  ;  and  the  church  also  are  quickened  to  more 
earnest  prayer.  God  seems  to  say  to  them,  "  My  chil- 
dren, now  is  the  time  to  awake  out  of  sleep,  to  be  in 
real  earnest  in  my  service.  Work,  and  I  will  work 
with  you." 

One  should  not  greatly  urge  persons  to  attend  this 
meeting.  There  should  certainly  be  no  forcing  process. 
A  person  may  be  persuaded  but  not  pressed  to  attend 
such  a  meeting. 

The  meeting  should  be  tranquil  and  simple,  without 
anything  to  produce  mere  excitement.  No  promises 
should  be  extorted  to  repent,  and  no  artifices  should  be 
used  to  lead  souls  to  commit  themselves.  Urge  men 
plainly  to  resolve  to  take  the  subject  at  once  into  consid- 
eration, and  to  yield  to  the  obligations  of  duty  and 
the  strivings  of  the  Spirit. 

The  pastor  should  appear  in  the  light  of  a  friend 
helping  rather  than  commanding  ;  his  tone  should 
be  affectionate  while  urgent.  The  meeting  should  not 
be  long  or  inquisitorial,  for  persons  under  deep  convic- 
tion of  the  truth  do  not  really  have  much  to  say.  God's 
noiseless  Spirit  is  talking  to  them  in  the  silence  of  their 
own  heart. 

(^)  Benevolent  labor.      The  more  entirely  the  church 
devotes  itself  and  its  possessions  to  the  Master,  the  more 
hope   there   is   of   his   continued   blessing  in 
spiritual  things  ;  and  this  is  according  to  the    Benevolent 
ancient    promise   to   the    church,  and   it  has 
always  been  found  to  be  true.      The  true  consecration  of 
the  church  to  God  is  followed  by  new  spiritual  life.     Let 
the   pastor  stimulate  the  church  to  a  higher  degree  of 
philanthropic  and  benevolent   activity,  in   giving  to  the 


5o8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

poor,  in  propagating  the  gospel,  in  home  evangelization 
and  missionary  work,  in  self-denying  efforts  for  the 
ignorant  and  degraded,  and  for  all  fallen  humanity. 
The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  in  the  church  calls  forth  or  at- 
tracts, so  to  speak,  the  love  of  God  to  it,  as  manifesting  the 
spirit  of  his  Son  and  renewing  his  sacrifice  in  those  who 
are  his.  God  makes  up  to  them  in  spiritual  things  what 
they  lose  or  seem  to  lose  in  this  world,  and  they  who 
give  all  to  God  receive  from  him  all,  with  his  added 
blessing  in  their  souls.  They  are  made  potential  for 
good  with  others,  and  are  endowed  with  a  Christlike 
power  in  influencing  men. 

3,   General  suggestions. 

As  a  few  practical  suggestions  upon  this  theme  : 
church-members  who  are  not  accustomed  to  speak  and 
to  pray,  but  who  are  men  of  faith  and  irreproachable 
character,  should  at  such  times  be  drawn  out  to  manifest 
their  interest,  even  if  it  be  in  a  few  words. 

Prayer-meetings  held  expressly  for  young  persons  are 
often  productive  of  good  at  such  a  time,  since  there  is 
more  freedom  and  interest  felt  by  young  people  them- 
selves In  these  meetings. 

All  the  meetings  should  be  kept,  as  far  as  practicable, 
quiet  in  tone,  under  the  church's  guidance  and  direction. 
The  interest  should  continue  to  be  of  a  spiritual  and  moral 
character  ;  and  yet  sometimes  our  over-anxiety  to  re- 
press all  excitement  produces  an  undesirable  effect,  and 
destroys  a  healthy  interest.  "  Religion  is  just  the  ex- 
citement which  many  men  need  to  make  them  happy. 
There  are  apertures  in  the  human  soul  which  nothing  else 
can  fill.      The  soul  was  made  for  this."  ' 

All  religious    instruction,    even   in   the    Sunday-school 


1  Alexander's  "Thoughts  on  Preaching,"  p.  436. 


THE   PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  509 

and  to  the  youngest,  should  have  a  more  direct  and  per- 
sonal character. 

And  yet  there  should  not  be  too  great  haste  in  pro- 
moting a  revival  of  religion,  so  that  the  church  and  pastor 
run  on  before  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  do  rash  things,  and 
rely  on  human  means,  and  do  not  give  themselves  time 
and  tranquillity  enough  to  observe  and  study  the  indica- 
tions and  directions  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Our  zeal,  as  well 
as  our  indifference,  often  results  in  total  despondency 
and  barrenness. 

How  great  delicacy,  tenderness,  and  wisdom  should 
be  employed  in  dealing  with  men's  minds  at  such  a  time  I 
Harshness,  coarseness,  roughness,  calling  of  hard  names, 
accusing  of  personal  and  particular  sins,  should  be 
avoided.  ^Nlen  themselves  under  the  mighty  pressure  of 
God's  hand  on  their  consciences  will  be  led  to  confess 
their  sins  one  to  another.  It  is  only  essential  to  hold 
with  kindness  and  yet  with  firmness  the  minds  of  the  un- 
converted under  the  steady  power  of  the  truth,  until  the 
conscience  is  awakened,  the  slumbering  will  energized, 
and  the  desires  and  affections  drawn  out.  Those  who 
have  already  obtained  a  good  hope  are  to  be  led  to  ex- 
amine their  hope  with  honest  candor,  or  at  least  to  be 
led  away  from  false  hopes,  so  that  they  may  rest 
securely,  not  upon  new  feelings,  joys,  manifestations, 
prayers,  duties,  beliefs,  nor  any  false  foundations,  but 
upon  Christ  alone. 

The  impression  (certainly  if  it  be  not  a  true  one) 
should  not  be  suffered  to  prevail,  that  an  interest  in 
divine  things  is  upon  the  decline,  and  that  efforts  there- 
fore are  to  be  relaxed  ;  for  the  normal  state  of  a  church 
is  a  state  of  life  and  progress,  a  state  of  the  daily  adding 
to  it  of  such  as  shall  be  saved.  The  interest  itself,  if 
possible,  should  be  of  so  simple  a  character,  so  free  from 


5IO 


PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 


all  feverish  stimulus,  that  it  can  continue  without  the 
undue  exhaustion  of  energy.  But  still  when  manifestly 
the  period  of  the  putting  forth  of  extraordinary  energy 
and  growth  has,  for  reasons  that  cannot  be  controlled, 
come  to  a  close,  it  should  be  accepted,  and  another  kind 
of  activity,  or  manifestation  of  another  phase  of  spirit- 
ual life,  gladly  entered  upon. 

Those  persons  who  have  been  for  a  long  time  thought- 
ful upon  matters  of  religion  and  do  not  seem  to  obtain 
Christian  hope,  are  not  to  be  forgotten  when  the  time  of 
religious  awakening  has  apparently  left  them  outside  of 
the  number  of  the  church.  They  are  not  to  be  aban- 
doned ;  and  the  relapse  of  such,  or  of  any  inquirers  into 
a  state  of  indifference,  is  to  be  earnestly  guarded  against. 

The  pastor  should  be  forewarned  and  prepared  against 
sudden  and  formidable  oppositions  to  the  truth,  which 
such  a  condition  of  things  is  almost  sure  to  arouse  ;  for 
when  the  kingdom  of  God  advances,  the  kingdom  of  evil 
is  revived  to  strenuous  resistance. 

On  the  whole,  whatever  may  be  some  of  the  evil  ten- 
dencies to  be  guarded  against  in  revivals,  yet  the  benefits 
of  pure  revivals  of  religion  cannot  be  too  highly  esti- 
mated ;  for  in  addition  to  the  good  results  in  the  con- 
version of  men,  a  more  active,  genial,  and  higher  tone  of 
piety  is  often  produced.  There  is  more  glow  and  vitality 
in  it.  There  are  more  of  the  Christlike  and  sweetly  filial 
lineaments  seen  in  men's  characters.  There  is  an  increase 
of  love,  true  brotherhood,  humanity,  holiness,  and  happi- 
ness among  the  good  ;  and  a  movement  which  goes  out 
as  from  a  living  centre  through  all  classes.  There  is  a 
more  unselfish  spirit  of  philanthropic  activity  awakened  ; 
and,  above  all,  the  young  are  brought  in  great  numbers 
into  the  Church  and  into  the  active  service  of  Christ. 

As  a  last  and  the  most  important  suggestion,  no  awak- 


THE  PASTOR'S   CARE    OF  SOULS.  511 

ening  of  religious  faith  is  of  any  sort  of  worth  which  does 
not  produce  a  higher  condition  of  good  morals  in  individual 
men  and  the  community.  A  true  revival  of  religious 
life  is  a  revival  of  righteousness.  It  is  a  gain  in  the 
direction  of  right  doing  and  living.  Honesty  in  business 
is  promoted,  the  laws  of  the  land  are  strengthened,  and 
a  moral  reformation  keeps  pace  with  the  spiritual  move- 
ment. The  praying  and  preaching  and  singing  of  hun- 
dreds and  thousands  together  which  do  not  lead  to 
cleanness  and  honesty  of  life,  to  the  increase  of  the  love 
of  God  and  of  man  in  men's  souls,  and  to  the  building  up 
of  character  and  of  the  spirit  of  charity,  are  but  phenom- 
ena of  a  sham  on  a  terrible  scale.  They  promote  false 
excitement  and  rank  hypocrisy.  It  would  be  far  better 
if  there  were  no  so-called  "  revival."  A  true  revival  of 
religion,  that  is  worthy  to  be  called  such,  is  in  a  marked 
manner  a  purincation  of  the  morality  of  a  people,  and 
leaves  it  established  upon  a  higher  plane  of  life  and 
action.  It  is  an  honester,  more  honorable,  more  truth- 
ful, more  humane,  and  more  righteous  people  than  it 
was  before.  Let  the  pastor  see  to  it,  as  far  as  his  in- 
fluence extends,  that  the  good  fruits  of  temperance, 
integrity,  and  all  holy  living  be  secured  as  the  solid 
results  of  a  revival  of  pure  and  undefiled  religion.  Let 
us  remember,  too,  that  this  very  name  of  "revival"  is 
not  even  known  in  some  Christian  lands  and  some  Chris- 
tian churches,  where  there  is  still  true  Christian  life  and 
progress  ;  and  wherein  this  term  denotes  anything  purely 
local,  conventional,  or  unreal,  we  would  have  it  pass 
away  from  among  us  ;  but  wherever  it  signifies  a  truth, 
even  the  awakening  power  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ  in  times 
of  religious  declension,  we  would  not  give  it  up,  but 
cherish  it,  and  pray  and  strive  for  it.  God  has  greater 
thing's  in  store  in  the  future  than  have  been  seen  in  the 


512  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

past,  and  faithful  souls  waiting  humbly  on  his  will,  de- 
voting themselves  intelligently  to  his  work,  watching  the 
beautiful  developments  of  his  good  Spirit,  hoping,  look- 
ing and  laboring,  shall  see  these  grand  and  joyful  results 
realized. 

Vinet's  remarks  (although  he  seems  to  have  been  but 
little  acquainted  with  the  type  of  revivals  in  America) 
are  valuable  ("  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  225).  He  first  quotes 
Massillon  :  "  '  Be  always  casting  in,  cultivating,  watering 
the  holy  seed  ;  he  who  gives  the  increase  will  not  fail  to 
make  it  productive  in  his  own  time.  We  would  be 
recompensed  according  to  our  labors,  by  a  sudden  and 
visible  fruit  ;  but  God  does  not  permit  this,  lest  we  should 
attribute  to  ourselves  and  to  our  feeble  powers  a  success 
which  can  only  come  from  the  work  of  grace. '  Besides, 
we  should  have  no  misunderstanding  in  respect  to  fruits. 
There  may  be  more,  when  there  appears  to  us  to  be  less. 
We  cannot  estimate  them  when  they  are  spread  over  the 
field,  but  only  when  they  are  stowed  in  the  granary. 
When  we  see  around  us  the  evidences  of  a  religious 
revival,  the  Bible  abundantly  distributed,  the  Word  of 
God  zealously  preached,  we  may  say,  '  Here  the  word 
of  the  Lord  has  passed.  But  this  is  wheat  which  has  but 
sprung  up  ;  the  harvest  is  not  yet.  The  harvest  consists 
in  sanctification,  charity,  the  whole  course  of  a  lowly  and 
pure  life.'  " 


PART  SIXTH. 

THE  PASTOR  IN  HIS  RELA- 
TIONS TO  THE  CHURCH. 


Sec.  27.    CJuircJi  Membership. 

We  come,  lastly,  to  the  more  peculiar  province  of  the 
Christian  pastor,  and  to  what  should  be  to  him  above  all 
a  "  labor  of  love" — the  care  of  the  interests  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  so' dear  to  the  heart  of  Him  who  planted  it 
in  this  world  by  his  own  sufferings  and  death. 

The  pastoral  oversight  of  the  Church  of  Christ  may  be 
divided  into  four  main  parts — viz.,  Church  Membership, 
Christian  Nurture,  the  Church's  Benevolent  Activity 
and  Almsgiving,  and  Missions. 

In  considering  the  subject  of  Church-membership,  we 
naturally  ask,  first  of  all.  What  is  the  Church,  over  v/hose 
dearest  interests  and  life  the  pastor  is  appointed  to 
watch  ? 

(i)  The  Church,  using  the  term  in  its  widest  sense,  is 
the  embodiment  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth. 
"  The  church  is  no  other  than  the  outward,  visible  rep- 
resentation of  the  inward  communion  of  believers  with 
the  Redeemer  and  with  one  another  ;"  '  and,  in  this 
sense,  wherever  the  Church  exists,    it   is   orie  body,   in- 


'  Neander's  "  Planting  and  Training,"  B.  I.,  c.  i. 


514  PASTORAL    rilEOLOGY. 

spired  by  one  spirit,  having  one  continuous  history,  how- 
ever diverse  its  parts  and  members.  The  principles  that 
should  govern  the  individual  members  of  that  kingdom 
of  God  should  govern  the  whole  Church  collectively,  until 
finally  it  represent  the  full  body  or  the  perfect  image  of 
Christ.  "  The  visible  church  is  to  be  regarded  as,  in 
some  sense,  a  human  institution,  but  one  peculiarly 
sanctioned  and  blessed  by  God  ;  and  it  is  rendered  the 
vehicle  of  God's  grace  just  so  far  as  it  is  an  efficient  in- 
strument of  the  preservation  and  propagation  of  Christian 
faith.  There  is  no  reason  to  conceive  that  the  Christian 
Church  was  supernaturally  ordained  by  God  in  all  its 
details — that  it  is  not  in  this  respect  essentially  different 
from  its  Jewish  predecessor.  There  is  no  doubt  that  it 
was  full  of  error  from  the  first,  the  apostles  during  their 
life  repressing,  but  not  radically  removing,  wrong  notions 
of  the  faith.  The  Church,  as  a  spiritual  power,  co-ordi- 
nate with  the  Word  and  the  Spirit,  is  certainly  realized 
through  a  visible  organization  and  system  of  outward 
ordinances,  but  it  is  by  no  means  confined  to  one  organ- 
ization alone  ;  so  far  as  any  one  answers  its  great  end 
better  than  another,  so  far  is  it  a  more  divine  and  fuller 
organ  of  the  Spirit."  Perhaps  every  evangelical  organi- 
zation, or  church,  called  by  whatever  name,  contains 
some  element  of  truth,  and  gives  it  a  more  perfect  ex- 
pression than  any  other  system  ;  and,  for  this  reason, 
there  should  ever  be  a  striving  for  unity  instead  of  a  striv- 
ing for  separation,  as  has  been  the  case,  for  example,  from 
conscientious  reasons,  among  the  Puritan  churches,  as 
distinguished  from  churches  of  other  forms  ;  there  should 
be  a  yielding  up  of  those  unessential  things  that  differ, 
and  a  partaking  and  assimilation  of  those  true  things  in 
which  all  agree  ;  an  earnest  struggle  toward  outward  as 
well    as    inward     unity,    toward    union    in     good    works, 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO  THE  CHURCH.       515 

and  divine  worship,  and  ecclesiastical  communion,  and, 
above  all,  toward  the  complete  brotherhood  of  dis- 
ciples and  of  all  men,  that  there  may  be  one  visible 
as  well  as  invisible  Church  of  Christ  on  earth  as  in 
heaven.  "There  is  one  body  and  one  spirit."  But 
while  the  visible  Church  is  now  to  be  identified  with 
no  one  particular  church,  or  sect,  or  denomination,  or 
set  of  rules  and  ordinances,  yet  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ,  with  its  scriptural  ordinances  and  organization  has 
its  true  place,  instrumentally,  in  the  divine  economy  of 
salvation,  and,  in  a  true  sense,  is  a  divine  institution. 
While  there  was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  no  uniform 
constitution  of  the  Church,  yet,  from  the  divine  plant- 
ing outward  organizations  sprang  up,  according  to  tem- 
porary emergencies.  The  mere  particular  and  external 
form  of  the  Church  was  not  then  held  in  such  supersti- 
tious veneration  as  it  has  since  been  held,  and  probably 
in  the  future  it  will  be  held  in  less  and  less  esteem  ; 
although  it  is  our  earnest  belief  that  the  more  nearly  the 
invisible  Church  approaches  to  an  inward  unity  of  spirit, 
worship,  and  faith,  the  more  the  visible  Church  will  be 
brought  to  an  outward  unity  of  form  ;  but  this  is  not 
absolutely  essential  no\v%  or  in  the  future,  for  the  life  of 
the  church,  any  more  than  it  was  in  the  apostolic  age. 
"  While  the  old  unreformed  church  associations  are  con- 
tinually prejudiced  by  this  particularism,  Protestants, 
on  the  contrary,  acknowledge  every  ecclesiastical  society 
which  holds  Christian  truth  in  greater  or  less  purity  and 
clearness,  to  be  a  preparatory  institution  for  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  as  such  belonging  to  the  universal  Christian 
Church,  whose  true  essence  is  the  invisible  Church,  the  en- 
tire number  of  all  believers  in  the  world."  '    Yet  when  one, 


'  Gieseler's  "  Hist.,"  p.  2. 


5l6  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

in  form  as  well  as  in  spirit,  such  as  it  was  in  the  apostolic 
age,  then  the  Church  would  present  a  front  to  the  world 
as  irresistible  as  it  was  then.  At  all  events,  the  Church 
should  not  be  turned  into  a  denomination,  call  it  what 
we  may,  so  far  as  to  lose  sight  of  the  universal  character 
of  the  Church,  and  that  it  has  but  one  Head  who,  as  a 
personal  Being,  fills  and  inspires  it  with  one  will  and  one 
spirit.  Compared  with  this  all  minor  differences  vanish 
like  the  mists  from  a  mountain's  head,  leaving  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Church  of  God  to  be  one,  everlasting  and 
divine. 

In  a  more  limited  sense  of  the  term,  a  church  is  a 
body  of  believers,  an  assembly  of  the  disciples  of  Christ 
united  for  the  true  observance  of  all  Christian  duties 
and  ordinances.  This  is  the  usual  New  England  con- 
ception of  a  church.  It  is  "a  local  society  designed 
to  be  composed  of  persons  truly  regenerated,  united 
by  a  covenant  of  mutual  church  watchfulness  and  fellow- 
ship, with  the  intention  of  meeting  in  dne  place  for  the 
public  worship  of  God  and  the  observance  of  Christian 
ordinances,  and  competent,  under  Christ,  of  doing  every- 
thing which  concerns  its  own  organization  and  govern- 
ment." 

(2)  Such  a  Christian  Church  is  organized  to  promote 

the  spiritual  welfare  and  growth  of  its  own  members,  and 

to    "  hold    forth   the  word  of  life"   to  other 

The  power  of  ^^^j^^      T\\Q  church  is  to  keep  alive  and  per- 

the   church  ,,      ,  r     ■    ^  ^     ^^  1  .1 

.  ,        .  .^  petuate       the    faith    once    delivered    to   the 
mainly  spirit-  ^ 

uai.  saints,"  and  if  it  lose  the  consciousness  of 
this  its  great  spiritual  mission,  it  loses  its 
life.  The  power  of  the  church  consists  in  the  purity  with 
which  it  holds  the  faith,  and  in  the  living  influence  which 
that  faith  exerts  upon  the  heart  and  life  of  every  mem- 
ber ;   for  power  is  not  promised  to  the  church  except  in 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  THE  CHURCH.       517 

the  name  of  Christ,  or  through  those  moral  and  spiritual 
forces  that  he  has  established,  or  that  are  in  him  ;  and 
thus  the  church's  power  is  almost  purely  spiritual  ;  it  is 
not  in  its  numbers,  nor  its  wealth,  nor  its  intelligence, 
nor  even  in  its  practical  benevolence  or  activity,  but, 
essentially,  in  its  faith,  its  true  life  in  God.  This  power  is 
to  be  manifested,  to  be  made  efficient,  through  the  spiritual 
life  of  its  members,  in  the  way  of  silent  testimony  to  the 
truth,  radiating  constantly  from  an  inner  divine  source  ; 
and  also  through  their  outward  preaching  of  the  truth  by 
actual  efforts  to  convert  men  to  Christ,  to  instruct  the  igno- 
rant, to  relieve  the  poor,  to  manifest  the  spirit  of  charity 
to  all,  to  destroy  the  works  of  the  devil,  to  reform  every 
moral  abuse  and  wrong,  and  to  give  the  gospel  to  those 
who  have  it  not.  The  preservation  of  this  spiritual  life  and 
the  increase  of  it  through  the  accession  of  souls  from  the 
kingdom  of  the  world,  is  the  Church's  and  every  individ- 
ual church's  primary  work.  This  germ  of  spiritual  life, 
planted  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  is  to  grow  until  the  world  is 
brought  under  its  power.  The  church  is  to  live  this  divine 
life  and  to  preach  this  divine  word  until  all  shall  share  the 
blessing.  The  smallest  church,  if  it  be  spiritually  alive, 
thus  looks  ever  forward  to  the  idea  of  a  "  glorious  whole 
— a  world-community  to  be  realized  and  perfected."  All 
disciples  of  any  name  should  labor  for  this  great  end,  and 
should  see  to  it  that  no  denominational  individualism 
should  prevent  the  advancement  of  this  catholic  and 
glorious  idea. 

(3)  Such  being  the  main  idea  of  the  Church,  who  then 
are,  or  are  fitted  to  become,  its  true  members?  We  an- 
swer, those  who  have,  and  who  give  credible 

.  ,  111  r   ^u^      •     ^*s  true  mem- 

evidence    that    they   have,    a   true    taitn    m         , 

■'  '  bers. 

Christ.      "  The  distinction   should   be   made 

between  faith  in  Christ  and  belief  in  the  orthodox  creed 


5i8  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

— the  last  is  desirable,  the  first  essential."  But  the 
church  has  a  right,  and  it  also  has  an  obligation,  to  satisfy 
itself  in  regard  to  the  faith  of  the  candidate  for  admis- 
sion ;  to  be  convinced  that  the  candidate,  by  doctrine  and 
character,  is  fitted  for  admission  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
church  ;  but  no  Christian  church  has  really  the  right  to 
exclude  a  true  believer  ;  and  a  pastor  should  have  a 
thorough  understanding  with  his  own  church,  that  there 
should  be  nothing  in  the  creed,  or  the  articles  of  the 
church,  which  bars  its  entrance  to  a  genuine  believer  in 
Christ.  Creeds,  as  far  as  they  have  a  practical  aside 
from  an  historical  use,  are  to  assist  the  church  in  discern- 
ing and  guiding  the  faith  of  the  members.  The  remedy 
of  doctrinal  laxness  does  not  consist  in  stiffening  up  the 
confessions  of  faith  and  the  denominational  creeds,  but 
in  having  an  apostolic  confession  of  faith  adopted,  plain 
and  well  understood,  without  additions  that  are  obsolete, 
philosophical,  unscriptural,  and  unessential.  Enlightened 
reason  and  a  liberal  charity  should  govern  here,  and  here 
the  pastor  himself  has  a  special  power  and  responsibility. 
Faith  in  Christ,  reasonably  attested,  is  the  only  true  and 
scriptural  ground  of  admission  to  the  Christian  Church. 
God,  by  his  apostles,  did  not  require  so  much  of  those  who 
were  baptized  out  of  heathenism,  as  he  did  of  the  Jewish 
converts,  or  as  he  does  of  Christians  now  ;  and  thus  there 
may  be  degrees  of  faith  among  those  received  into  the 
Church,  as  there  are  degrees  of  age,  education,  capacity, 
opportunity  ;  in  which  cases  the  pastor  is  virtually  called 
upon  to  decide.  He  would  not  require  of  a  child  what 
he  would  of  a  man  ;  and  even  among  the  adult  he  would 
not  ask  of  an  ignorant  person  that  clearness  of  view  in 
matters  of  faith  which  would  be  naturally  sought  for  in 
one  who  has  had  every  intellectual  and  moral  advantage. 
He  must  not  hold  the  door  close  or  open.      He  must  not 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       519 

raise  the  standard  of  admission  unreasonably  high,  but 
make  it  a  true  standard  for  the  particular  case,  leaning, 
in  his  imperfect  human  judgment,  to  the  side  of  charity 
and  hope.  ~  "  The  terms  of  communion  should  run  paral- 
lel with  the  terms  of  salvation."  The  church  is  a  school 
for  heaven,  and  those  who  come  into  it  are  not  those  who 
are  perfect,  or  who  approximate  to  perfection,  but  those 
who  need,  and  feel  they  need,  training  in  knowledge  and 
piety,  and  who  are  still  sinful,  ignorant,  weak. 

(4)  As  to  the  duties  of  church-members,  while  these 
might  be  formally  stated,  such  as  growth  in  knowledge 
and     holiness,     prayerfulness,     attention    to 

church   ordinances   and    obligations,    mutual      Duties  of 

ifii  ^  •         •      L.  ju  li.   church-mem- 

care    and    fellowship,    lust    and     benevolent 

,  bers. 

living  ;  yet,  so  far  as  the  pastor's  influence 

upon  the  duties  and  life  of  church-members  is  concerned, 
we  would  sum  it  up  in  the  development  and  production 
of  a  true  character,  a  new  spirit  of  life.  It  is  the 
enstamping  of  a  new  and  higher  spirit  upon  a  people. 
It  is  a  ministry  not  so  much  of  outward  things  as  of  the 
spirit,  the  heart,  the  character  ;  which  writes  its  lasting 
lines  in  the  most  enduring  qualities  and  affections  of  the 
nature.  To  write  this  epistle  more  and  more  deeply  in 
the  hearts  of  his  people,  and  not  only  his  own  imperfect 
love  and  character,  but  the  abiding  love  of  God,  and  the 
perfect  character  of  Christ,  this  is  the  great  work  of  the 
pastor.  He  is  to  strive,  in  the  spirit  of  his  Lord,  and  by 
his  help,  to  present  every  one  of  his  flock  "  holy  and  un- 
blamable and  unreprovable,"  in  the  sight  of  God  ;  and 
that  pastorate  cannot  truly  be  called  a  successful  one 
which  does  not  thus  write  itself  in  the  hearts  of  those 
who  wait  upon  it,  bringing  into  them  the  living  spirit  of 
Christ. 

Here   is   the   test   of  a   pastorate,  and   happy   are   the 


520  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pastors  who  can  abide  this  test  !  Can  all  that  are  called 
successful  abide  this  test  ?  A  true  pastorate  may  not 
indeed  have  been  granted  the  success  of  adding  large 
numbers  to  the  visible  church  ;  it  may  not  have  wit- 
nessed any  remarkable  growth  in  intelligence,  influence, 
or  outward  prosperity  ;  but  on  the  hearts  of  the  people  a 
genuine  work  must  have  been  wrought,  the  infusion  of  a 
new  spirit,  making  them  true,  upright,  pure,  self-deny- 
ing, humble,  happy,  loving,  good.  How  impressive  is 
that  passage  from  the  Second  of  Corinthians  !  "  And 
(if  some  among  you  deny  my  sufficiency)  who  then  is 
sufficient  for  these  things  ?  For  I  seek  no  profit  (like 
most)  by  setting  up  the  Word  of  God  to  sale,  but  I  speak 
from   a  single   heart,  from   the   command   of   God,  as  in 

A  God's  presence,  and  in  fellowship  with  Christ.  Will  you 
say  that  I  am  again  beginning  to  commend  myself  ?  Or 
think  you  that  I  need  letters  of  commendation  (like  some 
other  man)  either  to  you  or  from  you  ?  Nay,  ye  are 
yourselves  my  letter  of  commendation,  a  letter  written  in 
my  heart,  known  and  read  of  all  men  ;  a  letter  coming 
manifestly  from  Christ,  and  committed  to  my  charge  ; 
written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  spirit  of  the  living 
God  ;  not   upon   tables   of  stone,    but    upon    the   fleshly 

J  tables  of  the  heart.  "^  It  is  noticeable  that  the  apostle 
changes  somewhat  the  construction  here  ;  first  it  is  the 
people  written  upon  his  own  heart,  and  then  it  seems  to 
be  they  who  are  the  persons  written  upon — a  letter  from 
Christ  written  upon  their  hearts  by  the  Holy  Spirit.  At 
all  events,  it  is  a  spiritual  writing,  a  writing  upon  the 
heart,  "  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living 
God."  And  these  are  the  characters  that  are  written, 
"  But   the   fruit   of  the  Spirit  is  love,   joy,  peace,  long- 


'  Conybeare  and  Howson's  translation. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       521 

suffering,  gentleness,  goodness,  faith,  nneekness,  temper- 
ance ;"  and  these  are  the  fair  credentials  of  a  Christian 
pastorate,  which  cannot  be  mistaken  nor  gainsaid.  We 
look,  therefore,  for  a  true  pastoral  work,  in  the  produc- 
tion, by  the  grace  of  God,  of  this  new  character,  compre- 
hended in  the  New  Testament  term  "  charity,"  that 
"  charity  out  of  a  pure  heart,  and  a  good  conscience,  and 
faith  unfeigned,"  which  the  apostle  Paul,  in  the  first 
Epistle  to  Timothy,  says  is  the  end  of  all  teaching.  This 
divine  "  charity,"  or  "  love,"  is  the  vital  principle  or 
soil  in  which  all  the  other  Christian  virtues  grow,  the 
principle  which  is  "  the  bond  of  perfectness."  It  is  not 
so  much  an  act  as  a  state  of  the  soul,  embracing  all  its 
acts,  faculties,  and  being,  and  bringing  a  soul  and  a 
church  to  share  in  the  Spirit  of  God  and  of  Christ,  for 
"  he  that  loveth  is  born  of  God,"  "  that  they  may  all  be 
one,  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee,  that  they 
also  may  be  one  in  us. 

•  After  thus  setting  forth  this  general  and  comprehen- 
sive result  of  a  true  pastoral  care  and  oversight  of  the 
church,  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  enter  into  further 
and  more  minute  particulars.  All  things  indeed  should 
be  done  that  are  needed  to  bring  about  that  grand  con- 
summation, to  evolve  that  new  character,  built  upon  the 
sound  and  divine  principles  of  Christ's  life,  and  inspired 
by  his  Spirit^that  heavenly  citizenship,  where  all  are 
"  kings  and  priests  unto  God." 

(5)   Every  kind  of  society  must  have  rules  and  laws  for 
its  own  ordering  and   preservation,  and   to  those  laws,  if 

they  amount  to  anything,  penalties  must  be 

1,1-1  ""       . .  r  r  Church  disci- 

attached  which  are  not  mere  matters  ot  form,  ,. 

pane. 

but   which  are   intended   to   be   carried   into 

execution.     As    the    church    is    primarily    a   moral    and 

spiritual  body,    it   must   have  moral  and    spiritual — not 


J 


522  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

physical  or  material — penalties  attached  to  the  transgres- 
sion of  its  laws.  The  church  can  do  nothing  against  the 
body,  or  the  property,  or  the  civil  relations  of  the 
offenders.  This  idea  belonged  to  a  past  age,  and  to  the 
system  of  a  close  union  of  Church  and  State.  Neither 
has  the  church  a  right  even  to  pretend,  as  in  mediaeval 
times,  "  to  deliver  over  to  Satan  body,  soul,  and  spirit," 
since  the  church  has  no  power  over  the  future  condition 
of  men.  The  great  object  of  church  discipline  is  the 
purification  of  the  church  and  the  reformation  of  the  in- 
dividual offender.  A  church  must  first  be  pure  before  it 
can  be  strong.  It  must  be  pure  also  to  enable  it  to  con- 
demn or  to  absolve  as  with  the  voice  of  God.  "  A  holy 
church  would  soon  make  a  holy  world." 

A  person  becomes  a  member  of  the  visible  Church  of 
Christ  by  vows  miade  to  Christ  himself,  and  which  are 
personal  as  between  Christ  and  the  soul,  and  therefore 
everlasting  in  their  nature.  A  person  becomes  a  member 
of  a  particular  church  by  entering  into  a  special  covenant, 
by  virtue  of  which  "  he  is  responsible  to  the  church  for 
his  conformity  to  the  laws  of  Christ,  and  the  church  is 
responsible  to  him  ;  and  this  responsibility  does  not  cease 
until  the  church  by  some  formal  and  corporate  act  has 
declared  the  dissolution  of  the  covenant,"  This  charge 
over  church-membership  belongs  to  the  discipline  of  every 
church.  There  should  be  a  union  and  consensus  of  all 
the  churches,  of  the  whole  Church  of  Christ,  however,  in 
this  matter  of  discipline.  Has  not  modern  Christianity 
lost  something  of  its  power  by  losing  something  of  its 
genuineness  and  faithfulness  in  the  matter  of  discipline  ? 
In  the  very  difficult  matter  of  the  church's  moral  over- 
sight and  discipline,  in  which  the  pastor,  by  his  position, 
is  constituted  a  leader,  he  is  called  upon  to  exercise 
the  greatest  v/isdom,  firmness,  and  charit3^      He  should 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       523 

always  strenuously  insist  upon  the  thorough  doing,  in 
spirit  and  letter,  of  Christ's  own  rule  in  Matt.  18  :  15-18. 
That  is  the  foundation  and  charter  of  the  whole  system. 
Church  discipline  is  not  by  any  law  of  man  but  by  the 
law  of  Christ  alone.  The  true  subjects  of  church  disci- 
pline are  those,  and  only  those,  who  are  guilty  of  such 
offences  as  seriously  affect  their  moral  and  Christian 
character,  and  clearly  unfit  them  for  church  membership. 
Since  the  object  of  church  discipline  is,  first  of  all,  to 
reform  and  save  the  offender,  and,  secondly,  to  purify 
and  save  the  church  ;  therefore  discipline  should  always 
be  conducted  in  a  spirit  of  Christian  love,  and  with  a 
merciful  intent. 

As  to  the  method  of  church  discipline,  offences  for 
which  discipline  should  be  administered  are  of  two  kinds, 
private  and  public. 

Private  offences  are  those  committed  against  private 
individuals.  The  offended  person  in  such  cases  should 
proceed  strictly  according  to  the  rule  given  in  Matthew. 
He  should  first  go  alone  to  the  offender,  open  the  case 
to  him  in  a  Christian  spirit,  and  do  all  he  can  to  bring 
about  restitution  and  repentance,  instead  of  making  the 
offence  public.  This  is  owed  to  the  offender  himself  as 
a  professing  brother  Christian.  If  this  course  has  not 
been  previously  taken  in  a  bond  fide  manner,  the  church 
may  refuse,  except  under  peculiar  circumstances,  to 
entertain  the  complaint.  If  Christian  satisfaction  cannot 
be  obtained,  the  complainant  may  take  with  him  two  or 
three  other  judicious  brethren  to  aid  in  reclaiming  the 
erring  brother.  If  these  efforts  are  unavailing,  a  regular 
complaint  is  laid  before  the  church,  generally  in  writing, 
presenting  a  candid  history  of  the  case. 

Public  offences  are  those  gross,  open,  deliberate  viola- 
tions of  morality  that  constitute  public  scandal.      In  these 


524  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

cases,  private  means  to  reclaim  the  offender  may,  perhaps 
in  some  instances,  be  dispensed  with,  or  are  impractica- 
ble ;  yet  it  is  always  better  to  follow  the  Saviour's  rule, 
because  the  nature  and  end  of  church  discipline  are 
reformative.  The  difference  is  marked  between  public 
and  private  offences  in  the  old  symbol  of  the  Cambridge 
platform  ;  but  the  modern  tendency  is  to  the  observing  of 
the  rule  in  Matthew's  Gospel,  even  in  the  public  offence. 
Mr.  Upham  is  of  the  opinion  that,  while  the  pastor 
should  bring  public  scandal  before  the  church,  he  should 
not  do  so  before  a  private  interview  with  the  offender.' 
"  The  offender  should  enjoy  the  privilege  of  privately 
disclosing  either  his  defence  or  his  repentance  previous  to 
public  accusation."  Another  authority  says  "  private 
interview  seems  to  me  preferable  as  a  general  rule  in 
cases  of  public  as  well  as  private  scandal,  because  better 
adapted  to  secure  the  reformation  of  the  offender." 
This  is  Christian  charity  that  needs  no  church  rules  or 
regulations  to  suggest  it  to  sensible  and  Christian  hearts. 
When  explicit  evidence  is  obtained,  the  church  should  at 
length  proceed  to  take  formal  notice  of  the  offence.  A 
committee  of  the  pastor  and  others  should  then  be 
appointed  to  converse  with,  and,  if  possible,  reclaim  the 
offender.  If  all  these  efforts  at  reformation  are  totally 
unavailing,  after  thoroughly  sifting  the  case  in  an  impar- 
tial manner,  the  offender  having  ample  time,  means,  and 
opportunity  afforded  him  for  explanation  and  defence, 
the  church  is  compelled  (i)  to  issue  an  admonition,  (2)  to 
suspend  communion  (these  two,  in  fact,  are  really  the 
same),  (3)  the  means  already  mentioned  being  in  vain,  to 
excommunicate  the  offender.  Excommunication  is  a 
formal  exclusion  from  the  communion  and  privileges  of 


'  "  Ratio  Disciplinre,"  p.  141. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       525 

the  church  ;  it  puts  a  person  in  the  position  of  one  who 
is  out  of  the  recognized  fellowship  of  the  cfturch.  It  is  a 
formal  separation  from  the  number  of  the  professed  fol- 
lowers of  Christ  of  those  who  are  proved  to  be  unworthy 
disciples.  Excommunication  should  take  place  only  for 
great  sins,  "  clearly  proved,  a  previous  process  had,  and 
the  case  determined  by  the  whole  church.  Haste  is  the 
bane  of  church   rule." 

John  Robinson,  the  father  of  the  New  England  polity, 
said,  "  Excommunication  should  be  wholly  spiritual,  a 
merely  rejecting  the  scandalous  from  the  com.munion  of 
the  church,  in  the  holy  sacraments,  and  those  other 
spiritual  privileges  which  are  peculiar  to  the  faithful." 
The  excommunicated  person  should  be  treated  with 
kindness,  should  have  the  gospel  preached  to  him,  and 
he  may  be  restored  as  soon  as  possible  to  church  fellow- 
ship on  his  repentance  and  restitution,  giving  the  church 
satisfactory  proof  of  his  reformation.  When  Church  and 
State  were  united  then  excommunication  was  extended 
over  the  whole  life,  and  all  its  powers,  and  also  over  the 
future  life  ;  and  this  was  a  tremendous  power  wielded  by 
the  church  as  illustrated  by  the  example  of  Hildebrand 
and  the  Emperor  Henry  IV^. ;  but  that  has  gone  by,  and 
the  idea  of  excommunication  now  refers  only  to  present 
temporary  separation  of  unworthy  members  from  the 
church  mainly  for  their  own  reformation.  It  is  also  neces- 
sary, as  has  been  said,  for  the  church's  own  influence  and 
power  for  good.  The  church  should  be  able  to  do  more 
than  to  hold  its  own.  It  should  be  efficiently  aggressive 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord,  and  this  cannot  be  without 
purity  and  holiness  of  character  in  its  membership. 

The  quasi  mode  of  excommunication  now  in  vogue, 
called  "  withdrawing  fellowship,"  is  a  milder  method, 
not  yet  clearly  established,   but   nevertheless  advocated 


526  PASl^ORAL    THEOLOGY. 

and  practised  by  many  churches.  It  is  now  generally 
admitted  that  a  church  may  separate  a  member  from  its 
communion  "  without  formal  censure,  in  many  cases  in 
which  the  member  signifies  by  his  acts  that  he  has  aban- 
doned worship  or  Christian  sympathy" — i.e.  without  a 
public  trial  or  formal  excommunication.  In  case  of  a 
scandalous  offence,  the  ground  has  been  taken  that  the 
church  may,  "  to  avoid  greater  scandal,  use  a  wise  dis- 
cretion in  selecting  the  offence  on  which  it  shall  separate 
a  member  from  its  fellowship  and  discharge  itself  from 
responsibility  toward  him."  In  thus  dropping  a  member, 
however,  great  care  should  be  taken — a  due  notice  given 
when  practicable,  and  a  full  hearing  afforded — or  the  carry- 
ing out  of  the  scriptural  principle  in  Matthew's  gospel. 
At  least  two  thirds  of  the  vote  should  be  required.  It  is 
a  censure,  but  not  an  express  or  formal  one.  But  there 
is  still  much  open  ground  for  discussion  and  adjustment 
in  this  matter.  Differences  should  certainly  be  made  be- 
tween moral  errors  and  errors  of  doctrine.  Sometim.es 
the  fault  is  upon  the  side  of  the  church,  which  has  neg- 
lected its  duty  in  regard  to  watch  and  discipline  ;  and, 
generally  speaking,  church  discipline  is  too  long  delayed 
and  comes  too  late.  But  even  the  withdrawal  of  watch 
and  fellowship  is  a  mild  kind  of  excommunication,  and 
therefore  should  be  done  carefully.  It  is  the  quiet  drop- 
ping or  separating  from  the  church  of  those  members 
who,  though  guilty  of  no  gross  sin,  or  essential  error,  yet 
do  not  walk  regularly  as  good  members.  Minor  irregu- 
larities, such  as  continued  and  persistent  disregard  of 
church  relations  ;  long  neglect  to  remove  church  connec- 
tions to  churches  in  those  places  where  the  persons  in 
question  have  removed  \  habitual  absence  from  public 
worship  and  the  communion  table  ;  the  giving  up  of  a 
distinctive  Christian  hope  and  returning  to  an  avowedly 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO   THE   CHURCH.       527 

worldly  life,  are  held  to  be  sufficient  reasons  for  leaving 
out  such  useless  members  from  the  church  membership. 
Such  a  nebulous  tail  or  membership  of  the  church  might 
just  as  well  be  swept  out  of  existence  from  the  ecclesias- 
tical sky.  Or,  to  change  the  figure,  the  under  line  of  the 
arch  which  does  not  tell  its  moral  character  and  resist- 
ance of  evil,  should  not  be  enlarged  or  depended  upon. 
We,  nevertheless,  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  prime  fault 
is  often  with  the  church  itself  ;  that  if  Christians  would 
but  exercise  kindly  Christian  fellowship,  and  do  their 
duty  faithfully  and  fraternally  with  one  another,  and 
especially  with  the  erring,  heeding  the  apostolic  injunc- 
tion, "  brethren,  if  a  man  be  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye 
which  are  spiritual  restore  such  an  one  in  a  spirit  of 
meekness,  considering  thyself  lest  thou  also  be  tempt- 
ed ;"  "  bear  ye  one  another's  burdens,  and  so  fulfil  the 
law  of  Christ  ;"  if  this  were  more  generally  done,  mat- 
ters would  rarely  come  to  the  pass  of  the  excision  of  a 
member. 

Vinet  remarks  (and  in  this  he  echoes  the  commonest 
fact  of  human  nature)  that  "  the  remonstrances  or  re- 
proofs which  are  a  part  of  pastoral  discipline  are  much 
more  easily  dispensed  to  the  poor  and  the  weak  than  the 
rich  and  great."  But  this  preparatory  and  milder  moral 
discipline  of  a  church  in  the  way  of  private  admonition 
and  reproof,  is  chiefly  in  the  pastor's  hands,  and  should 
be  done  promptly  and  wisely  ;  and  he  should  endeavor, 
by  striving  personally  for  the  reformation  of  the  offender, 
to  prevent  things  from  coming  before  the  church  for 
public  trial  and  adjudication.  Meddling  men,  who  have 
more  zeal  than  tact  or  charity,  should  be  steadily  re- 
pressed in  their  endeavors  to  kindle  every  little  spark  of 
error  and  misconduct  into  a  flame  that  may  involve  the 
whole  church  in  deadly  controversy. 


528  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

But  the  effect  of  the  total  neglect  of  church  discipline 
would  be  the  inevitable  corruption  of  the  church,  as  in 
the  ancient  church  of  Corinth  ;  it  would  end  in  weakness 
and  spiritual  decline,  and  often  in  open  and  unchecked 
immorality. 

(6)  Poimenics.     We  use  the  word   "  poimenics"  here 

in  a  narrower  sense  than  it  is  technically  employed,  since 

rj  .        .  it    signifies,   in  fact,    the   whole   of    Pastoral 

Poimenics,  or  °  ' 

the  pastor's  Theology  ;  but  we  employ  it  now  as  a  con- 
official  rela-  venicnt  term  to  express  the  pastor's  more 
tions  to  the  exclusive  relation  to  the  church,  his  official 
guidance  and  authority  over  the  church,  as 
far  as  it  legitimately  extends.  While  there  are  totally 
different  views  of  this  ecclesiastical  relationship  taken  by 
hierarchical  and  unhierarchical  churches,  an  old  writer, 
even  of  the  simpler  polity,  says  the  pastor  is  "  to  feed 
the  sheep  ;  guide  and  keep  them  ;  draw  them  to  him  ; 
discern  their  diseases  ;  cure  them  by  appropriate  medi- 
cine ;  give  warning  ;  watch  over  and  defend  the  flock." 
In  the  matter  of  discipline,  of  which  we  have  just  spoken, 
in  the  words  of  an  ancient  church  rule,  "  he  is  to  lead 
and  go  before  the  church."  The  pastor  is  the  appointed 
overseer  of  the  church  in  all  its  affairs,  whether  temporal 
or  spiritual  ;  he  is  the  presiding  officer  of  the  church's  legi- 
timate business  and  action,  the  executive  agent  of  its  will, 
the  leader  in  its  worship,  the  dispenser  of  its  solemn  ordi- 
nances and  sacraments,  and  its  guide  in  all  religious  duties. 
As  to  the  pastor's  more  strictly  official  authority,  of 
which  we  have  before  once  or  twice  spoken,  all  the  actual 
power,  according  to  the  New  England  idea,  lies  in  the 
church  itself,  or  with  the  united  brethren  of  the  church  ; 
the  pastor,  however,  is  the  chief  instrument  or  agent  of 
carrying  out  the  church's  will.  He  is  the  church's  pre- 
siding chief  officer  ;   nevertheless  he  is  a  minister,  not  a 


THE  PASTOR'S  KELATIOXS   TO    THE  CHURCH.        529 

monarch.  Mis  voice  may  have  greater  moral  power  in  a 
business  meeting  than  that  of  another  member,  but  his 
vote  and  his  ecclesiastical  action  has  not  a  whit  more. 

It  may  have  been  already  perceived  that  the  tendency 
of  this  book  in  respect  of  the  institution  of  the  pastoral 
office,  inclines  to  regard  the  pastor  as  the  divinely  ap- 
pointed guide  of  the  church,  and  that  he  has  therefore  a 
power  of  administration  which  is  both  reasonable  and 
scriptural.  The  pastor  is  assuredly  something  more  than 
the  chosen  moderator  of  a  church  assembly  ;  and  the 
ministry  itself  is  something  more  than  an  office  in  a  local 
church.  It  has  a  divine  foundation.  The  apostle  Paul 
sent  to  the  Ephesians  and  called  the  pastors  and  elders 
of  the  church  and  said  to  them,  "Take  heed  to  your- 
selves and  to  all  the  flock  over  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
hath  made  you  overseers  to  feed  the  Church  of  God." 
They  had  also  their  divinely  appointed  duties  and  quali- 
fications. The  churches  could  elect  their  own  officers, 
but  they  had  no  right  to  elect  unfit  men,  who  had  none 
of  the  qualifications  of  good  ministers  of  the  Church  of 
Christ.  The  character  and  even  authority  of  the  pastor 
do  not  thus  depend  altogether  upon  the  church,  but  upon 
the  delegation  of  the  power  of  choice  from  God  to  the 
church,  and  are  thus  ultimately  from  and  in  God.  Christ 
appointed  and  appoints  his  own  ministers.  Christ  is  the 
supreme  fountain  of  the  pastoral  office  and  authority. 
Of  course  the  minister  must  be  called  and  examined  by 
the  church  before  he  is  ordained,  and  herein  he  is  the 
church's  appointed  officer,  but  in  so  far  as  the  pastor  has 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  the  commission  of  Christ,  in  him,  he 
has  a  certain  independent  scriptural  authority,  and  he  is 
to  be  received  as  a  representative  of  the  Lord,  teaching 
the  divine  doctrine,  and  guiding,  with  the  help  of  the 
church,  in    all    its    affairs,    temporal   and   spiritual.      The 


53©  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

teacher  or  pastor  who  comes  "  in  the  name  of  the  Lord," 
chosen  and  inspired  by  the  Spirit,  whose  teaching  tends 
to  righteousness,  who  builds  up  the  kingdom  of  God, 
whose  doctrine  and  life  go  to  make  everywhere  a  pure 
and  Christlike  humanity,  he  is  the  true  pastor,  created, 
sent  by  and  chiefly  accountable  to  Christ,  whatever  the 
secondary  duty  of  the  church  in  relation  to  his  election, 
probation,  and  maintenance  may  be.  He  only  is  a  true 
Christian  pastor  who  is  a  representative  of  the  character, 
the  mercy,  and  the  truth  of  Christ.  This  view  goes  to 
the  root  of  the  question  of  pastoral  authority  in  the 
church  and  rears  a  high  moral  and  spiritual  standard 
therefor,  to  which,  if  it  be  the  right  way  of  viewing  this 
important  matter,  the  church  itself  is  bound  to  conform.' 


'  The  writer  derives  satisfaction  from  the  recently  discovered  ms.  of 
"  The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  edited  by  Philotheus  (Bryen- 
nios)  Metropolitan  of  Nicomedia.  Whatever  weight  or  authenticity  there 
may  be  in  it,  and  he  would  not  here  discuss  the  question,  it  strengthens 
the  views  of  the  divine  institution  of  the  pastoral  office  taken  in  this 
book.  The  following  are  a  few  citations  from  the  text  of  this  manu- 
script :  "  My  child  thou  shalt  be  mindful  night  and  day  of  him  who  de- 
clares to  thee  the  Word  of  God,  and  thou  shalt  honor  him  as  the  Lord. 
.  .  .  Whoever,  therefore,  shall  come  and  teach  you  all  these  things 
mentioned  before,  receive  him  ;  but  if  the  teacher  himself  changes  about 
and  teaches  another  doctrine  so  as  to  destroy  (this)  do  not  listen  to  him  ; 
but  (if)  so  as  to  increase  righteousness  and  knowledge  of  the  Lord,  re- 
ceive him  as  the  Lord.  ;  .  .  And  no  prophet  that  speaks  in  the 
spirit  shall  ye  examine  or  judge  ;  for  every  sin  shall  be  forgiven,  but  this 
sin  shall  not  be  forgiven.  Not  every  one  who  speaketh  in  the  spirit  is  a 
prophet,  but  he  who  has  the  character  of  the  Lord.  From  their  character, 
therefore,  shall  the  prophet  and  the  false  prophet  be  known.  .  .  . 
Every  prophet  who  teaches  the  truth  is  a  false  prophet  if  he  does  not  do 
what  he  teaches.  But  no  prophet  approved  and  true,  who  gathers  as- 
semblies for  a  mystery  of  this  world,  but  does  not  teach  (the  people)  to 
do  >what  he  himself  does,  shall  be  judged  among  you  ;  for  he  has  his 
judgment  with  God.  .  .  .  But  let  every  one  who  cometh  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  be  received." 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       531 

Sec.  28.   Christian  Nurture. 

The  Church  has  a  profound  responsibihty  in  regard  to 
its  children,,  and  no  truth  is  more  famiHar  than  that  the 
hope  of  the  church  is  in  its  children  and 
youth.  That  church  has  prescience  and  The  children 
true  love  that  never  for  a  moment  loses  sight  of  the  church. 
of  the  children  born  in  its  borders,  and  above 
all,  the  children  of  believers.  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
church  to  see  that  these  children  are  trained  "  in  the 
nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord."  They  are  to  be 
regarded  as  those  already  pledged  to  Christ,  and  who, 
through  the  faithfulness  of  believing  parents  and  of  the 
church,  will  themselves  become  true  believing  disciples. 
Those  children  should  grow  up  as  naturally  into  the 
church  and  into  the  kingdom  of  God  as  tenderly  cared- 
for  plants  in  a  garden.  This  faith  is  rooted  in  nature. 
Scripture,  and  grace.  The  "  angel-age  "  of  man's  being, 
as  childhood  is  sometimes  called,  should  not  be  suffered 
to  lapse  and  drag  its  celestial  brightness  in  the  world's 
mire.  But  even  little  children  have  need  of  regenera- 
tion, or  we  limit  the  power  of  the  renewing  Spirit.  The 
child  is  to  be  treated  as  if  he  had  a  soul  to  save,  and  is 
not  to  be  left  to  grow  up  in  sin  until  he  is  sinful  enough 
to  need  salvation  ;  he  is  to  be  brought  into  communion 
with  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and  the  influences  of  His  house 
and  kingdom  ;  he  is  to  be  instructed  and  nourished  in 
Christ's  household  ;  he  is  to  be  put  into  the  very  arms  of 
Jesus,  who  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto 
me,  and  forbid  them  not."  A  careful  study,  as  has  been 
before  remarked,  of  the  true  force  of  that  remarkable  ex- 
pression j^iadrfTevGaTE  (Matt.  28  :  19)  will  greatly  enlarge 
our  hope  and  zeal  as  pastors  ;  for  the  pastor,  above  all, 
should  not  neglect  these  young  "  disciples,"  who  are  the 


532  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

seed  of  the  future  Church,  and  of  his  own  particular 
church.  The  primitive  Church  had  certainly  a  more 
magnanimous  and  Christ-like  view  of  its  relations  to  little 
children  and  to  households,  than  we  at  this  day  are  ac- 
customed to  hold. 

Of  course,  Christian  parents  are  the  divinely  appointed 
agents  of  the  Church,  to  teach  their  children  the  things 
of  God,  and  to  rear  them  for  Christ  and  his  service  ;  they 
are  to  impart  to  their  children  Christian  instruction, 
"  which  is  of  the  Lord,  deriving  a  quality  and  power 
from  him.  Being  instituted  by  him,  it  will  of  necessity 
have  a  method  and  a  character  peculiar  to  itself,  or  rather 
to  him.  It  will  be  the  Lord's  way  of  education,  having 
aims  appropriate  to  him,  and  if  realized  in  its  full  ex- 
tent, terminating  in  results  impossible  to  be  reached  by 
any  merely  human  method."  * 

Parents  are,  in  some  sense,  the  parents  of  their  chil- 
dren's souls.  There  is  a  connection  of  moral  character, 
which  produces  results  beautiful  or  terrible.  We  do  not 
refer  to  the  education  of  children  in  a  kind  of  piety  which 
is  artificial  and  unseasonable  to  their  years,  and  which  is 
sometimes  exemplified  in  a  severely  religious  state  of 
society  like  that  of  the  New  England  Puritans,  noble  and 
pure  as  it  was  in  many  more  important  aspects.  Thus 
we  read  in  the  life  of  a  good  Connecticut  family  : 
"  Their  tenth  and  last  child  was  Jonathan,  who  died  at 
the  age  of  three  years  and  four  months,  having  read  the 
Bible  through  twice,  committed  many  passages  to  mem- 
ory, and  conducted  family  worship  !"  °  But  considering 
the  almost  omnipotent  character  of  parental  influence, 
what  an  argument  has  the  pastor  to  urge  parents  to  lead 


'  Dr.  Bushnell's  "  Christian  Nature." 
'  "  Life  of  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse." 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       533 

a  clean,  unselfish,  and  righteous  Hfe,  and  to  cultivate 
family  piety,  whereby  the  house  becomes  "  the  church  of 
childhood,  the  table  and  hearth  a  holy  rite,  and  life  an 
element  of  saving  power."  We  speak  here  with  earnest- 
ness, as  of  a  matter  of  vital  moment,  since  our  impres- 
sion is,  that  (with  marked  exceptions)  there  is  a  profound 
want  on  the  part  of  believing  parents  in  our  churches  in 
instructing  their  children  in  Christian  truth  and  duty, 
leading  them  by  the  hand  to  Christ,  teaching  them  in 
religious  things  with  the  purpose,  clearness,  care,  and 
heart  that  they  teach  them  in  matters  pertaining  to  this 
world.  Children  are  neglected  religiously.  This  ought 
not  so  to  be.  It  shows  a  deplorable  want  of  faith.  It 
must  act  disastrously  on  the  interests  of  the  Church  of 
Christ. 

But  the  church  itself,  and  the  pastor  as  its  chief  agent, 
have  also  their  duty  to  perform  toward  the  children. 
This  duty  of  the  church  in  the  training  of  its  children 
and  youth  is  commonly  treated  under  the  head  of 
catechetics. 

(2)  Catechetics  (from  uarrjx^f^,  to  sound  ;  to  utter 
sound  ;  to  teach  by  the  voice  ;  oral  instruction)  is  the 
familiar  teaching  of  the  fundamental  princi- 

0  3. 1 6  C II 6  ^  1 C  S 

pies  of  divine  truth  drawn  from  the  Word  of 
God.  "  Religious  instruction  renews  continually  the 
foundation  of  the  Church,  and  is  the  most  real  part  of 
that  tradition  by  which  Christianity,  not  only  as  a  doc- 
trine, but  also  as  a  life,  "perpetuates  itself  from  age  to 
age.  Catechizing  is  useful  to  those  who  are  its  immedi- 
ate objects  ;  it  is  useful  to  the  parish  ;  it  is  useful  to  the 
pastor  himself,  who  by  the  duty  of  adapting  religion  to 
the  apprehension  of  children,  is  unconsciously  carried  back 
to  simplicity  and  the  true  names  of  things.  On  all  these 
accounts  it  deserves  earnest  attention,  which  it  also  de- 


534  FASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

mands  by  its  difficulty,  not  the  same  for  all  pastors,  but 
always  great."  '  Vinet  gives  also  his  opinion  in  favor  of 
direct  instruction  from  the  Bible,  without  catechism  or 
manual.  He  says,  "  Where  ought  a  child  to  find  his 
religion  ?  All  that  he  can  find  himself  he  must  find,  but 
that  is  little  ;  all  the  rest  is  in  the  Bible.  It  is  the  Bible 
that  must  teach  him.  Catechising  presupposes  the 
Bible,  which  it  does  but  digest  and  systematize.  It  is  by 
their  mutually  interlacing  one  another  that  the  ideas  of 
the  Bible  live,  as  do  the  fibres  of  a  living  body  ;  to  sepa- 
rate them  is  to  destroy  life."''  The  child  is  to  be  in- 
structed in  Christian  truth,  he  is  to  be  made  to  know 
Christ,  not  in  abstract  and  theological  ways  merely  that 
are  commonly  above  his  comprehension,  but  to  know 
Christ  in  his  life,  who  he  was  in  his  person,  what  he  said, 
did,  and  commanded,  and  what  he  loved  and  would  have 
even  children  to  do  and  love,  thus  making  him  a  real 
Being,  a  true  Friend,  and  One  who  still  lives  to  guard, 
guide,  and  love  the  child. 

The  modern  system  of  Sunday-schools,  and  their  rela- 
tions to  the  church,  is  one  of  exceeding  interest  to  the 
pastor,  who  should  firmly  hold  the  theory  that  the  Sun- 
day-school belongs  to  the  essential  organization  and 
working  system  of  the  church  ;  that  it  should  not  main- 
tain an  independent  existence  ;  that  it  should  be  estab- 
lished or  adopted  by  the  church  as  its  own  instrumen- 
tality ;  that  it  should  be  ordered,  regulated,  and  main- 
tained by' the  church  through  its  pastor.  "  It  is  part  of 
his  ministry."^  The  Sunday-school  should  not  super- 
sede family  instruction,  neither  should  parents  delegate 
the  religious  teaching  of  their  children  entirely  to  stran- 
gers,   nor  even    to  the    church.       "  The  church   in  the 


'  Vinet^  "  Pas.  Theol.,"  p.  229.         -  Ibid.,  p.  229.  ^  Dt.  Tyng. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO  THE  CHURCH.       535 

house"  is  the  primary  school,  and  a  beautiful  one,  of 
childhood's  piety,  and,  as  Dr.  Bushnell  has  said,  "  family 
government  should  itself  be  a  converting  ordinance." 

In  regard  to  mission  schools.  Dr.  Chalmers  favored  the 
local  school,  what  we  would  call  the  parish  school,  i.e. 
instead  of  having  children  come  from  all  parts  of  the 
town  or  city  to  one  large  school,  to  have  many  smaller 
schools  in  the  immediate  districts  or  parishes,  where 
scholars  live.'  In  these  mission  schools  the  Church,  like 
a  vine,  propagates  itself,  and  here  is  a  rich  and  noble  field 
for  the  self-sacrificing  labor  of  church-members,  and 
especially  of  young  disciples. 

Sec.  29.  Benevolent  Activity  and  Almsgiving. 

The  ideal  of  a  Christian  church  is  one  where  the  work- 
ing capacity  of  every  member,  the  peculiar  talent  of 
every  member  is  developed  from  a  living  principle  of 
faith,  in  unity  with  the  general  plan  of  God  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  church,  or  the  common  work  which  the 
church  has  to  do. 

The  church  should  be  an  institution  making  itself  felt 
in  the  world  in  which  it  is  placed — indeed,  to  grow  and 
to  diffuse  about  itself  the  blessings  of  the  gospel,  is  the 
only  rationale  of  its  existence.  "  The  religion  of  fact 
should  reach  above  the  religion  of  form.  The  church 
should  be  the  most  fit  vehicle  for  spreading  the  truth, 
and  we  should  suit  our  ecclesiastical  institutions  to  the 
age  and  the  country  where  we  are,  and  to  the  grand  pur- 
pose of  doing  the  most  good  at  the  time." 

More  is  accomplished  in  the  church,  as  in  every  other 
practical  institution,  by  all  working  with  some  degree  of 
faithfulness  than  by  a  few  doing  a  great  deal.     A  good 


'  Hanna's  "  Life  of  Chalmers,"  v.  ii.,  p.  135. 


536  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

pastor's  rule  of  ministerial  and  churchly  success  was  "  in 
setting  people  to  work."  Ministers  may  even  sin  in 
working  too  much  themselves  and  not  allowing  their 
people  to  work.  But  this  idea  can  only  be  carried  out 
by  a  concert  of  action,  and  by  a  carefully  organized  plan 
of  action,  in  order  to  enable  every  member  to  use  his 
peculiar  gift,  whatever  it  may  be,  for  the  service  of  the 
whole  ;  so  that  there  may  be  occupation  for  the  capacity 
of  every  one  for  good,  in  some  more  general  system  of 
operations.  "  All  working,  and  always  working,"  was 
Wesley's  motto.  Not  the  most  ignorant,  obscure,  or 
weak  should  be  permitted  to  remain  altogether  unem- 
ployed ;  and  evidently  the  tendency  of  the  Christian 
spirit  of  the  age  is,  and  will  be  more  and  more  in  the 
future,  to  make  every  nominal  member  of  the  Church  a 
living,  preaching,  working,  real  member.  He  is  the  best 
pastor  who  organizes  and  draws  out  the  greatest  working 
capacity  of  his  church  in  harmonious  action  ;  while  at 
the  same  time  he  guards  against  an  unwise  and  useless 
^yaste  of  energy,  economizes  power,  prevents  profitless 
repetition  of  labor,  and  guides  effort  in  the  best  chan- 
nels. There  is  power  in  the  principle  of  division  of 
labor,  that  one  can  do  what  another  cannot,  and  that 
each  may  do  what  he  can  do  best  ;  and  who  is  to  ob- 
serve, plan,  study  out,  and  regulate  this  problem  if  not 
the  pastor,  who  is  especially  the  regulator  of  the  benevo- 
lent activity  of  the  church  and  the  supervisor  of  its  chari- 
ties ?  "The  very  fundamental  idea  of  the  ministry  of 
the  gospel  is  that  they  who  compose  its  ranks  are  the 
friends  of  those  who  may  without  offence  be  termed,  in 
this  connection,  the  poor.  Ministers  of  Christ  are 
charged  with  the  duty  of  delivering  a  message  intended  to 
alleviate  the  sufferings  and  sweeten  the  cup  of  human  life." 
Almsgiving,  or  the  giving  of  money  for  purely  charita- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       537 

ble  purposes,  is  peculiarly  under  the  pastor's  care.      He 

is  the  church's  almoner.     The  pastor  has  a 

1  .11  Almsgiving, 

great   work    to    do    to   raise  the   benevolent 

spirit  of  the  church  to  something  like  the  New  Testa- 
ment standard,  being  now,  notwithstanding  the  greatly 
increased  benevolence  of  the  church,  almost  infinitely 
below  the  standard  and  spirit  of  the  gospel.  If  Christ 
were  truly  realized  in  his  human  nature,  as  the  church 
composed  of  believers  in  his  incarnation  and  genuine 
humanity  should  hold  and  teach,  then  men  will  be  taught 
by  and  in  the  church  to  love  one  another  ;  then  they, 
will  love  their  neighbors  and  will  be  philanthropists  in  the 
same  degree  that  they  are  Christians  ;  the  more  they  have 
the  more  willing  they  will  be  to  devote  themselves  and 
their  property  to  their  neighbors'  good.  The  pastor 
should  earnestly  preach  the  truth  that  "  Christ  is  all,  and  in 
all  ;"  that  all  one  has,  as  well  as  all  one  is,  is  Christ's  ; 
not  the  tenth  of  one's  property,  which  was  the  Hebrew 
rule,  but  the  whole  of  it,  which  is  the  Christian  rule.  In 
other  words,  no  one  has  an  exclusive  property  right 
in  anything  that  he  possesses  ;  it  is  a  relative  posses- 
sion ;  the  claims  of  God  and  of  one's  fellow-men  are 
always  to  be  considered  in  relation  to  his  own  rights  of 
ownership.  If  God,  indeed,  should  clearly  call  for  all 
that  a  man  has,  he  should  be  ready  to  surrender  it.  He 
may  not  be  called  upon  to  give  more  than  a  tenth  part 
of  his  income  for  strictly  charitable  purposes,  nor  even 
that,  under  some  circumstances  ;  but  he  should  ever 
gladly  act  upon  the  New  Testament  principle,  to  give 
"as  God  hath  prospered  him."  There  should  be  the 
spirit  of  self-sacrifice  in  this,  as  in  all  things  that  pertain 
to  the  Christian  life.  This  is  a  great  and  vital  subject, 
deeply  affecting  the  interests  of  humanity,  and  of  the 
church  ;  and  the  pastor  should  so   preach,  and  as  far  as 


53^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

he  can,  practise,  upon  the  Christian  law  of  giving,  that 
his  people  shall  be  brought  to  approximate  to  the  true 
standard.  This  will  be  for  their  own  highest  good  and 
happiness.  He  is  also  to  encourage  good  men  to  gain 
money  with  a  positive  Christian  aim,  in  order  to  do 
good,  to  furnish  the  means  of  carrying  on  Christian 
works  of  greater  than  ordinary  dimensions,  requiring 
greater  resources.  He  is  to  systematize  the  church's 
benevolence,  to  regulate  the  whole  matter  upon  some 
comprehensive  working  plan  in  which  room  is  still  left 
for  spontaneous  charity,  so  that  giving  shall  be  made  a 
part  of  religion,  of  praise,  Christ's  compassion  extended 
not  only  to  the  spiritual  but  to  the  temporal  wants  of 
men.  He  fed  the  perishing  multitudes.  "  He  fed  their 
bodies  in  order  that  he  might  bless  their  souls."  We 
are  not  called  upon  to  give  indiscriminately  to  the  poor, 
but  with  wisdom,  intelligence,  and  true  charity.  "  He 
that  would  not  work  neither  should  he  eat"  is  a  principle 
that  ought  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  in  schemes  of  practical 
benevolence,  and  a  charity  that  destroys  the  principle  of 
self-activity,  and  of  personal  energy  and  responsibility,  on 
the  part  of  the  poor,  is  perhaps  as  bad  as  a  charity  that 
systematizes  it  into  a  science  which  kills  all  spontaneity 
of  heart  and  act.  Each  church  should  have  its  own 
system  of  missions,  mission  schools,  houses  for  the  poor, 
for  the  aged,  for  the  infirm,  as  well  as  its  system  of 
aiding  more  general  objects  ;  for  there  is  more  real 
enthusiasm  in  what  is  our  own  than  in  what  is  of  general 
interest,  even  if  genuinely  Christian.  The  Episcopal 
Church  has  rightly  divined  one  source  of  power  and 
benevolent  energy  to  lie  in  the  concentration  of  interest 
upon  definite  objects,  those  that  are  well  recognized  as 
denoting  the  vineyard  which  is  to  be  faithfully  cultivated 
by  a  particular  church. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       539 

There  has  been,  doubtless,  in  the  past,  with  much  that 
is  genuine,  something  of  unreasoning  and  unintelHgent 
benevolence  in  our  churches,  a  kind  of  superstitious 
giving  without  the  giving  of  the  man  himself  with  it,  as 
if  mere  giving  in  itself  benefited  the  soul  ;  so  that 
Edward  Irving  truly  said  that  "  money  is  the  universal 
corruption,  when  we  use  it  for  discharging  obligations 
contracted  by  spiritual  or  moral  services," 

Notwithstanding  the  increased  attention  to  this  matter 
in  the  church,  there  has  been  little  written  which  has 
improved  upon  the  stimulating  precepts  (wonderful  for 
the  time)  of  Jeremy  Taylor  on  the  subject  of  almsgiv- 
ing, and  we  would  close  this  topic  by  quoting  some 
sentences  from  his  "  Holy"  Living  and  Dying,"  a  book 
that  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  Christian  equally 
with  Thomas  a  Kempis's  "  Imitation  of  Christ." 

"  Love  is  as  communicative  as  fire,  as  busy  and  as 
active,  and  it  hath  four  twin  daughters  extremely  like 
each  other.  Their  names  are  Mercy  ;  Beneficence,  or 
Well-doing  ;  Liberality  ;  and  Alms,  which  by  a  special 
privilege  hath  obtained  to  be  called  after  the  mother's 
name  and  is  commonly  called  Charity,  The  first  or 
eldest  is  seated  in  the  affection  ;  and  it  is  that  which  all 
the  others  must  attend.  For  mercy  without  alms  is 
acceptable  when  the  person  is  disabled  to  express  out- 
wardly what  he  heartily  desires.  But  alms  without  mercy 
are  like  prayers  without  devotion,  or  religion  without 
humility.  Beneficence,  or  well-doing,  is  a  promptness 
and  nobleness  of  mind,  making  us  to  do  offices  of 
courtesy  and  humanity  to  all  sorts  of  persons  in  their 
need,  and  out  of  their  need.  Liberality  is  a  disposition 
of  mind  opposite  to  covetousness,  and  consists  in  the 
despite  and  neglect  of  money  upon  just  occasions,  and 
relates  to  our  friends,  kindred,  servants,  and  other  rela- 


540  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

tives.  But  alms  is  a  relieving  the  poor  and  needy.  The 
first  and  last  only  are  duties  of  Christianity. 

"  He  that  gives  alms  must  do  it  in  mercy  ;  that  is,  out 
of  a  true  sense  of  the  calamity  of  his  brother,  first  feeling 
it  in  himself  in  some  proportion,  and  then  endeavoring  to 
ease  himself  and  the  other  of  their  common  calamity. 
Against  this  rule  they  offend  who  give  alms  out  of 
custom  ;  or  to  upbraid  the  poverty  of  the  other  ;  or  to 
make  him  mercenary  and  obliged  ;  or  with  any  unhand- 
some circumstance.  He  that  gives  alms  must  do  it  with 
a  single  eye  and  heart  ;  that  is,  without  designs  to  get 
the  praise  of  men  ;  and,  if  he  secures  that,  he  may  either 
give  them  publicly  or  privately  ;  for  Christ  intended  only 
to  provide  against  pride  and  hypocrisy  when  he  bade 
alms  to  be  given  in  secret  ;  it  being  otherwise  one  of  his 
commandments,  *  that  our  light  should  shine  before 
men.'  This  is  more  excellent  ;  that  is  more  safe.  To 
this  also  appertains  that  he  who  hath  done  a  good  turn 
should  so  forget  it  as  not  to  speak  of  it  ;  but  he  that 
boasts  it,  or  upbraids  it,  hath  paid  himself,  and  lost  the 
nobleness  of  the  charity. 

"  Give  alms  with  a  cheerful  heart  and  countenance, 
*  not  grudgingly  or  of  necessity,  for  God  loveth  a  cheer- 
ful giver  ;'  and  therefore  quickly,  when  the  power  is  in 
thy  hand,  and  the  need  is  on  thy  neighbor,  and  thy 
neighbor  at  the  door.  He  gives  twice  that  relieves 
speedily. 

"  Give  no  alms  to  vicious  persons,  if  such  alms  will 
support  their  sin  ;  as  if  they  will  continue  in  idleness  ; 
'  if  they  will  not  work,  neither  let  them  eat  ;  '  or  if  they 
will  spend  it  in  drunkenness  or  wantonness  ;  such  per- 
sons when  they  are  reduced  to  very  great  want,  must  be 
relieved  in  such  proportions  as  may  not  relieve  their 
dying  lust,  but  may  refresh  their  faint  or  dying  bodies. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIOiXS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       541 

"  Give  looking  for  nothing  again  ;  that  is,  without 
consideration  of  future  advantages  ;  give  to  children,  to 
old  men,  to  the  unthankful,  to  the  dying,  and  to  those  you 
shall  never  see  again  ;  for  else  your  alms  or  courtesy  is 
not  charity,  but  traffic  and  merchandise  ;  and  be  sure 
that  you  omit  not  to  relieve  the  needs  of  your  enemy 
and  the  injurious  ;  for  so,  possibly,  you  may  win  him  to 
yourself  ;  but  you  intend  to  win  him  to  God. 

"  Trust  not  your  alms  to  intermedial,  uncertain,  and 
under-dispensers  ;  by  which  rule  is  not  only  intended  the 
securing  your  alms  in  the  right  channel,  but  the  humility 
of  your  person,  and  that  which  the  apostle  calls  '  the 
labor  of  love.'  And  if  you  converse  in  hospitals  and 
almshouses,  and  minister  with  your  own  hand,  what  your 
heart  hath  first  decreed,  you  will  find  your  heart  endeared 
and  made  familiar  with  the  needs  and  with  the  persons 
of  the  poor,  those  excellent  images  of  Christ. 

"  The  precepts  of  alms  or  charity  bind  not  indefinitely 
to  all  the  instances  and  kinds  of  charity  ;  for  he  that  de- 
lights to  feed  the  poor,  and  spends  all  his  portion  that 
way,  is  not  bound  to  enter  into  prisons  and  redeem  cap- 
tives ;  but  we  are  obliged,  by  the  presence  of  circum- 
stances, and  the  special  disposition  of  Providence,  and 
the  pitiableness  of  an  object,  to  this  or  that  particular 
object  of  charity.  He  that  is  in  thy  sight  or  in  thy 
neighborhood  is  fallen  into  the  lot  of  thy  charity. 

"  If  thou  hast  no  money,  yet  thou  must  have  mercy  ; 
and  art  bound  to  pity  the  poor,  and  pray  for  them,  and 
throw  thy  holy  desires  and  devotions  in  the  treasure  of 
the  church  ;  and  if  thou  dost  what  thou  art  able,  be  it 
little  or  great,  corporal  or  spiritual,  the  charity  of  alms 
or  the  charity  of  prayers,  a  cup  of  wine  or  a  cup  of  water, 
if  it  be  but  love  to  the  brethren,  or  a  desire  to  help  all  or 
any  of  Christ's  poor,  it   shall  be   accepted  according  to 


542  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

that  a  man  hath,  not  according  to  that  he  hath  not.  For 
love  is  all  this  and  all  the  other  commandments  ;  and  it 
will  express  itself  where  it  can  ;  and  where  it  cannot,  yet 
it  is  love  still  ;  and  it  is  also  sorrow,  that  it  cannot," 

We  would  end  by  saying  that  the  almsgiving  and 
benevolence  of  the  Christian  Church,  while  it  should  not 
lose  its  fire  of  spontaneity,  that  sweet  love  that  Jeremy 
Taylor  speaks  of,  should  be  organized  and  intelligent — we 
might  even  say,  scientific — else  there  is  waste,  and  this 
sometimes  dif^cult  and  always  most  responsible  v/ork  de- 
pends especially  on  the  patient,  thoughtful,  and  unremit- 
ting care  of  the  pastor. 


Sec.  30.   Missions. 

The  subject  of  Church  Missions  naturally  divides  itself 
in  two — viz..  Home  Evangelization  and  Foreign  Missions. 

Home  evangelization.  We  believe  in  being  more  dis- 
tinctively Americans  than  we  have  ever  been  before.      As 

much   as   the   Old   World   attracts   educated 
Home  Evan-  ,     ,  ,  .  . 

,.    ^.         men  as  scholars,  and  as  entrancmg;  as  is  the 
gelization.  ° 

past  to  the  thoughtful  mind,  we  have  and 
should  realize  that  we  have  a  magnificent  country  lying  be- 
fore us  to  develop — the  best  hope  of  humanity — and  let  us, 
while  we  are  Christian  pastors,  be  also  American  patriots, 
proud  of  our  birthright  and  awake  to  our  opportunity.  The 
subject  of  home  missions  in  our  country  has  grown  to  be 
of  enormous  magnitude  since  the  whole  land  is  laid  open 
by  a  vast  series  of  continental  railroads.  The  North- 
west, as  well  as  the.  South-west,  is  opening,  and  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Sierra  Nevada  no  longer  limit 
operations  like  Chinese  walls.  The  mountains  of  Salt 
Lake  City,  the  Switzerland  of  America,  are  scaled,  and 
the  Mormon  is  assailed  in  his  stronghold  ;   in  the  newer 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       543 

States  and  Territories  Christianity  forms  the  foundation- 
stone  of  the  edifice  that  is  to  be  built  upon  it,  and  to  no 
grander  work  can  young  men  lay  their  hands  than  this, 
for  here  they  mould  empire.  There  is  also  a  great  mis- 
sionary work  still  nearer  home.  It  is  a  very  critical  and 
difficult  yet  truly  splendid  achievement  to  induce  church- 
members  to  enter  upon  personal  work  for  the  cause  of 
religion  and  humanity,  to  labor  to  elevate  the  condition 
even  of  those  lying  at  their  door,  of  the  destitute,  igno- 
rant, unevangelized  classes  in  their  own  towns  and  cities. 
The  reasons  that  may  be  urged  for  home  evangelization, 
or,  as  ir  is  commonly  called  with  a  wider  meaning  given 
to  the  phrase,  "home  missions,"  are  mainly  three: 
I.  The  principle  of  self-preservation,  the  good  of  our- 
selves, our  children,  and  our  country.  2.  The  greater 
assurance  of  success  and  of  good  done.  The  results  of 
home  missions  are  more  appreciable  than  those  of  foreign 
missions.  3.  A  powerful  indirect  method  of  promoting 
the  entire  missionary  work  of  the  world's  conversion. 
America  Christianized — the  world.  But  to  bring  the 
matter  nearer  home,  the  degraded  condition  of  the 
lapsed  masses  in  our  towns  and  cities,  and  also  the  num- 
berless victims  of  intemperance,  licentiousness,  and  other 
destructive  vices  demand  the  putting  forth  of  the  utmost 
benevolent  energy  of  our  churches.  "  One  third  at  least 
of  the  grown-up  inhabitants  of  our  large  cities  in  America 
are  not  only  not  members  of  Christian  churches,  but  in 
most  cases  belong  to  no  religious  form  of  society.  Their 
children  are  in  innumerable  instances  educated  in  crime. 
Thousands  on  thousands  are  huddled  together  in  filthy 
tenement-houses,  with  an  insatiate  craving  for  intoxicat- 
ing stimulants,  and  hourly  consumed  by  vice  and  crime 
— the  plague-spots  of  the  land."  The  study  of  that 
wonderful  work,  the  growth  of  the  "  Inner  Mission,"  in 


544  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Germany  from  the  centres  of  Weimar,  where  John  Falk 
estabh'shed  his  LittJicrJiof,  and  of  Hamburg,  where  John 
Wichern  founded  his  RanJics  Halts,  would  show  what 
Christian  zeal  combined  with  German  thoroughness  in 
work  could  accomplish.  Johann  Heinrich  Wichern,  who 
died  in  1881,  was  one  of  the  best  types  of  the  working 
Christian,  taking  counsel  of  no  one  but  his  own  heart, 
that  this  age  has  seen,  and  the  wonderful  network  of 
benevolent  institutions,  reformatories,  orphanages,  poor- 
houses,  work-houses,  hospitals,  lodging-houses,  city  mis- 
sions, prison  schools,  teachers  among  emigrants  and 
soldiers,  culminating  in  the  "  Central  Committe  for  Inner 
or  Home  Missions"  in  the  German  Empire^is  proof  of 
what  one  heart  fired  by  Christian  enthusiasm  can  accom- 
plish. Though  the  pupil  of  Schleiermacher  and  of  Ne- 
ander,  he  was  more  than  all  the  simple  disciple  of 
Christ,  and  drew  his  principle  and  his  rallying  cry  of 
"  brotherhood  "  from  the  Master.  He  despaired  of  none. 
He  put  unlimited  confidence  in  the  simple  principle  of 
Love.  He  admitted  young  criminals  into  the  bosom  of 
his  own  family.  He  trusted  them  unconditionally.  He 
treated  them  in  all  things  as  "  brethren,"  and  with  but  a 
few  exceptions  his  confidence  was  not  misplaced,  and  the 
boundless  Christian  love  that  was  the  root  of  what  he 
did,  showed  its  divine  power  in  renewing  the  worst  men, 
where  reason  and  law  would  have  proved  useless. 

The  consecration  needed  for  this  home  missionary  work 
is  to  be  set  forth  by  the  Christian  pastor,  and  the  actual 
wants  of  the  neighborhood  in  which  a  church  is  placed  are 
to  be  exhibited  with  truth  and  vivid  particularity.  These 
claims  of  the  poor,  but  especially  of  the  morally  lapsed 
and  vicious  classes,  should  be  laid  on  the  conscience  of 
church-members,  and  the  law  of  love  to  our  neighbor 
should  be   pressed   home.      "  Whoso  hath   this    world's 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       545 

good,  and  seeth  his  brother  have  need,  and  shutteth  up 
his  bowels  of  compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the 
love  of  God  in  him  ?"  The  responsibility  should  be 
rolled  upon  Christians.  The  great  encouragements  of 
such  a  work,  the  motives  prudential  and  religious,  motives 
as  palpable  as  those  for  draining  a  poisonous  marsh  and 
turning  it  into  good  farming  soil,  should  be  presented  ; 
but,  above  all,  the  pastor  himself,  with  such  devoted 
church-members  as  he  can  influence  to  join  him,  should 
enter  courageously  into  this  work,  as  Dr.  Chalmers  did, 
with  his  few  helpers,  when  he  undertook  the  care,  tem- 
poral and  spiritual,  of  ten  thousand  poor  of  the  city  of 
Glasgow.  The  main  principle  of  Dr.  Chalmers  was,  that 
a  Christian  church  is  responsible  for  the  physical,  social, 
and  moral,  as  well  as  spiritual  condition,  of  all  who  are 
within  its  parish  limits  not  otherwise  cared  for.  It 
should  provide  for  the  temporal  necessities  of  its  poor, 
not  leaving  them  to  the  cold  charities  of  the  civil 
authority,  and  should  see  that  they  are  properly  fed, 
clothed,  and  educated.  He  thought  that  the  debased 
condition  of  the  poor  of  large  Christian  cities  was  mainly 
owing  to  the  apathy  and  unfaithfulness  of  the  churches  in 
doing  their  duty  to  the  people  and  communities  among 
whom  they  were  placed.'  One  of  the  chief  duties  of 
the  church  is  to  teach  the  people  morality.  The  ethical 
teaching  of  the  church  has  been  theoretic  rather  than 
practical.  The  image  of  Jesus  Christ,  of  a  good  man,  has 
not  shone  clear  as  the  sun,  in  it.  There  is  an  awakening 
sense  of  the  truth  that  here  is  a  vast  field  for  the 
church's  activity  which  has  been  heretofore  too  exclu- 
sively intellectual,  theological,  and  theoretic.  Men  are 
beginning   to   apprehend    that  Christianity  means  good- 


'  Hanna's  "  Life  of  Chalmers,"  v.  i.,  chaps.  6,  10,  11. 


546  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

ness  :  "Mais,  inaintenajtt  I'  horn  vie  Ic  moins  croyant  croit 
que' le  CJiristianisine  est  la  religion  de  la  bont^."  '  The 
law  of  goodness,  of  righteousness,  is  to  be  fearlessly  laid 
side  by  side  with  men's  acts,  and  the  various  deviations 
therefrom  are  to  be  pointed  out  as  with  the  pen  of  a  dia- 
mond. The  preacher  of  Christ  must  set  his  face  squarely 
against  dishonesty,  intemperance,  and  every  wrong 
thing.  Not  only  those  heinous  vices  which  all  reprobate, 
but  that  low  immorality  which  creeps  like  a  malaria 
through  a  community,  the  mean  and  selfish  motive,  the 
business  trickery,  the  worship  of  wealth,  the  slanderous 
spirit,  the  love  of  luxury  and  gross  pleasure,  the  ambi- 
tious greed,  man's  injustice  and  inhumanity  to  man,  lie 
in  the  province  of  the  church  to  dispel  with  vigor  from  its 
own  borders,  and  to  assail  where  they  exist.  Men  must 
be  taught  the  plain  principles  of  morality  and  honor  in 
their  every-day  application  to  life  and  conduct.  Men 
must  be  told  from  the  pulpit,  perhaps  sternly 

— "  be  Kent  unmannerly 
When  Lear  is  mad — " 

what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong.  If  the  Church  be 
behindhand  in  its  ethical  teaching,  where  will  the  world 
be  ?  The  preacher  is  only  to  be  careful  to  infuse  into  the 
rules  and  principles  of  natural  morality  the  infinitely 
higher  principle  of  Christian  love  that  lifts  morality  into 
a. heavenly  light,  that  strikes  the  beam  of  self-sacrifice 
through  it  and  makes  it  divine,  like  the  light  which  sur- 
rounds the  throne  of  God,  who  is  Love. 

2.  Foreign  missions.  A  new  life  should  be  breathed 
into  the  Christian  truth  of  foreign  missions  ;  for  it  is 
either  of  no  importance  or  of  infinite  importance.  The 
coming  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  blessed  reign  of  love, 


Vinet. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       547 

and  righteousness,  and  peace  in  the  whole  world  is  either 

a  golden  delusion  of  enthusiasm,  or   it  is  a 

"■olden  truth,  a  germ  of  glorious  power,  which 

^  ^  °  .  sions. 

was  in    some  sense  realized  in  the  planting 

of  the  Church,  generating  an  impulse  which  carried  the 
faith  of  Jesus,  the  Christ,  through  the  then  civilized  world 
to  the  Indus  and  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia  and  farthest 
Germany,  and  which  since  that  time  has  lost  somewhat 
of  its  first  fire,  and  needs  a  new  baptism  of  the  spirit  of 
love.  To  the  church  has  been  committed  the  evangeliz- 
ing of  the  whole  world. 

(i)  No  religion  but  Christianity  has  been  a  successful 
missionary  religion,  or,  we  might  say,  has  had  the 
missionary    spirit.       It    is    true    that     Max 

Miiller  makes  Buddhism  and   Mohammedan-  Christianity 
.  ,     ^,     .     .       .  ,  ,  ,  .      the  only  mis- 

ism,  with  Christianity,  to   be  the   three  mis-    .  ,. 

sionary  relig- 

sionary  religions,  denying  the  same  element  jon. 

to  Judaism,  Brahminism,  and  Zoroastrian- 
ism.  Buddhism  and  Mohammedanism,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  at  the  outset,  and  at  periods  during  their 
history,  have  shown  bursts  of  zeal  for  conquest,  espe- 
cially the  last  of  these  religions,  which,  however,  does 
not  pretend  to  invite  men  to  become  Moslems  but 
compels  them.  Its  true  force  has  been  in  its  iron  unity 
of  will  and  plan,  its  simple  doctrine  combined  with  its 
seductive  appeal  to  the  sensual  nature.  It  bowed  all 
before  it  with  its  concentrated  zeal,  like  a  cyclone.  But 
whatever  is  violent  cannot  last  ;  and  it  cannot  be  claimed 
that  in  modern  times  Islamism,  though  it  has  its  ebulli- 
tions of  fierce  fervor,  like  that  which  has  recently  passed 
over  India  and  the  islands  of  the  Malayan  Archipelago, 
and  Egypt,  and  other  portions  of  Northern  Africa, 
is  a  permanently  or  an  essentially  missionary  faith. 
While  it  had  unity  of  spirit  and  effort  infused  into  it  by 


548  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

its  founder  it  made  conquests  ;  but  the  political  power  of 
Islamism  is  paralyzed,  and  its  missionary  spirit  ceases 
with  the  decline  of  its  military  and  political  power  ;  and 
certainly  a  most  interesting  field  and  fresh  subject  of  mis- 
sionary enterprise  opens  itself  in  the  probable  not  distant 
disruption  of  the  Turkish  Empire  and  fall  of  the  Moham- 
medan power  in  Europe.  We  do  not  entirely  share  the 
apprehensions  of  some  good  men  in  regard  to  the  future 
prospects  of  Christian  missions  among  the  Mohammedans 
under  this  new  probable  phase  of  events.  The  fatalistic 
Turk  yields  to  the  stronger  book.  He  acknowledges  the 
argument  of  force  if  not  of  love  ;  nor  can  Greek  intole- 
rance offer  a  permanent  bar  to  the  introduction  of  a  true 
Christianity  among  peoples  freed  from  the  unspeakable 
Turkish  yoke  ;  the  book,  the  railroad,  the  telegraph, 
the  newspaper  will  do  missionary  work  in  those  nations 
whose  political  prison-doors  have  been  once  opened.  As 
regards  Buddhism,  with  a  more  quiet  and  mystic  fervor 
it  partakes  at  the  present  day  of  the  stagnant  character 
of  Oriental  religions,  existing  as  they  now  do  upon  tradi- 
tion, and  having  a  certain  life  because  they  are  subtly 
affiliated  to  the  tendencies  and  desires  of  a  corrupt  human 
nature.  The  only  religion  which  steadily  and  from  prin- 
ciple, in  all  ages  and  under  all  circumstances,  and  as  an 
intrinsic  necessity  of  its  existence,  seeks  to  convert  men 
to  its  faith  and  to  overcome  the  world,  is  the  religion  of 
love. 

(2)  The  fundamental  principle  and  authority  of  Chris- 
tian missions  are  found  {d)  in  the  command  of 
Fundamental^ijg    Lord    to    his    disciples,     Mark    16:15: 

J,    .    .        .     "  And  he  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  into  all  the 
Christian  mis- 
sions,       world  and  preach   the  gospel    to   every   crea- 
ture."    Matt.    28  :  19  :     "  Go    ye    therefore 
and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       549 

Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded 
you." 

The  word  "  mission,"  from  missio,  and  mittcrc  to  send, 
speaks  its  historic  origin. 

{U)  In  the  fact  that  the  gospel  is  a  universal  religion — 
a  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.  It  alone  practically  recognizes  "  the  solidarity 
of  mankind."  It  is  adapted  to  the  human  mind  under 
whatever  conditions  of  being,  and  satisfies  its  needs 
under  all  its  phases,  since  its  germinant  principle  is  a 
divine  humanity— God  allying  himself  to  every  man  in 
the  Incarnation. 

(<:)  In  the  truth  that  in  the  gospel  are  contained  the 
only  restorative  moral  powers.  Other  methods,  as  edu- 
cation, the  arts  of  civilization,  science,  industry,  and 
philosophy  are  external  even  if  intellectual  forces,  and 
do  not  reach  the  causative  sources  of  character,  the  spirit- 
ual nature  where  God  meets  the  soul  with  restoring  and 
life-giving  power. 

{d)  It  is  the  religion  of  love,  and  therefore  fitted  to 
subdue  all  to  itself.  In  the  figure  of  the  New  Testament 
it  is  a  leaven  which  leaveneth  the  whole  lump.  As  a 
message  of  love  to  humanity  it  tends  irresistibly  to  propa- 
gate itself,  and  to  draw  into  itself  all  things,  for  love 
seeks  to  comprehend  and  assimilate  all  to  its  own  nature. 
This  is  its  intrinsic  quality,  without  which  it  could  not 
be  the  gospel,  or  the  divine  message  of  good-will  to  the 
world.  "  The  spirit  of  missions  is  the  divine  energy  of 
the  gospel."  It  is  the  energy  of  love.  In  one  sense 
missions  are  the  offspring  of  the  church  ;  in  another 
sense  they  are  the  Church  of  Christ  in  action,  doing  its 
own  work,  carrying  out  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  its 
Founder,    living,    breathing,   acting,    laboring,   and    sub- 


550  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

duing  all  before  it  while  there  remains  anything  to  subdue 
in  order  that  its  Lord  may  rule  in  all.  The  Christian 
Church,  therefore,  cannot  be  and  have  life  unless  it  be  a 
growth.  It  must  be  outgiving  to  hold  the  gift  of  love. 
With  the  early  Church  this  was  perhaps  not  so  much  a 
preceptive  obligation  as  a  Christian  instinct.  The  world 
lay  in  wickedness — its  predestined  and  intuitive  field  was 
the  world.  The  world  being  evil,  would  not  come  to 
the  light  lest  its  deeds  should  be  reproved,  and  the  light 
must  be  borne  to  it.  The  cross  casts  a  world-wide  light 
to  the  individual,  then  to  the  family,  then  to  the  nation, 
and  then  to  the  world  ;  and  so  the  circle  enlarges  because 
the  selfish  spirit  is  gradually  expelled  from  it.  The  spirit 
and  example  of  the  Saviour,  who  by  his  impulse  of  divine 
love  came  into  the  world  "  to  seek  and  to  save  them 
that  were  lost" — without  an  exception — were  as  natu- 
rally followed  in  this  respect  by  his  disciples,  whether 
apostles,  presbyters  or  laymen,  as  the  soldiers  of  a  great 
captain  like  Cortez,  or  Pizarro,  seeking  to  conquer  a  new 
country,  use  their  subordinate  intelligence  and  energy  to 
carry  out  their  leader's  intent.  Following  him  in  sight 
or  out  of  sight,  they  cast  themselves  as  a  compact  body 
into  the  ocean  of  enemies.  Missions  are  not  a  side-issue, 
an  independent  work  of  the  church,  but  in  some  form  or 
another  they  are  its  main  work,  for  which  it  was  com- 
missioned in  the  world.  De  Pressense  says  that  Christian 
missions  are  an  answer  to  humanity's  cry  to  be  restored 
to  God. 

(3)  While  the  missionary  spirit  of  the  Apostolic  Church 
was    never    absolutely    extinguished,    but    through    the 

earlier  periods  showed  much  activity,  as  in- 
Modern  mis-  .  ,  ^,    .    .      .  .  . 

sions        stanced  m  the  rapid  Christianizmg  of  many 

portions   of  the   vast    Roman    Empire,  as  of 

Gaul  and  Spain,  in  the  Nestorian  missions  of  the  fourth 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       551 

century  to  Central  and  Eastern  Asia,  and  in  the  Irish 
missions  and  those  of  the  northern  German  and  Gothic 
nations  of  the  fifth  century,  and  even  in  the  groping  mis- 
sionary enterprises  of  the  so-called  "  dark  ages" — mostly 
those  of  individual  minds — such  as  Columba,  Ulphilas, 
Boniface,  and  Anskar  ;  and  later  of  Raimund  Lull  and  St. 
Francis  of  Assisi,  still  showing  the  presence  and  power 
of  the  impelling  motive  of  Christian  love.  Yet  what  are 
distinctively  called,  modern  missions,  sprang  up  (if  we 
take  a  comprehensive  view)  in  the  bosom  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  The  missions  of  the  Romish  Church 
preceded  those  of  the  Protestant  Church  and  in  some 
sense  set  them  the  example.  To  quote  from  an  impartial 
writer  on  this  subject  :  "  The  great  maritime  discoveries 
of  the  fifteenth  century  proved  the  means  of  reviving  the 
missionary  spirit  of  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  the 
Church  in  its  turn  reacted  upon  the  spirit  of  discovery. 
As  new  regions  were  added  to  the  world,  the  necessity 
was  felt  of  carrying  thither  the  tidings  of  the  true  relig- 
ion. And  the  zeal  for  proselytism  thus  awakened,  be- 
came an  additional  motive-force,  urging  men  on  to  still 
further  efforts.  The  Reformation  which  shortly  followed 
could  not  be  other  than  an  exceedingly  strong  stimulus 
to  Roman  Catholic  enterprise  of  this  kind.  To  make  up 
for  the  territory  lost  to  the  Catholic  faith,  there  was 
reason  to  hope  that  fresh  territory  might  be  won.  No 
more  efficient  soldiers  than  the  Jesiiits  have  ever  been 
enlisted  for  a  campaign  of  this  kind.  As  to  the  number 
of  their  converts,  it  is  as  impossible  to  form  a  correct 
notion  as  it  is  to  pronounce  upon  the  lists  of  the  slaugh- 
tered in  ancient  battles.  We  hear  of  the  existence  of 
400,000  native  Christians  in  Japan  in  the  year  1596  ;  of 
20,000  Chinese  baptized  in  the  single  year  1664  ;  of 
300,000  Chinese  Christians  living  in  1723  ;  and,  on  better 


552  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

authority,  of  100,000  Indians  living  under  the  control  of 
the  Jesuits  in  South  America  in  1767  ;  with  much  more 
to  the  same  effect.  Doubtless  in  all  this  there  is  exag- 
geration ;  yet  it  has  never  been  disputed  that  the  Jesuit 
missions  have  exhibited,  in  a  higher  degree  than  any 
others,  temporary  success."  ' 

It  was  not  till  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century 
that  Protestant  missions  assumed  anything  like  a  sys- 
tematic line  of  effort.  About  this  time  the  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  Missions  was  established  in  England, 
and  the  first  Danish  missionaries  were  sent  to  India. 
The  Danish  and  German  missionaries  have  labored  with 
apostolic  zeal  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  for  the  conver- 
sion of  India.  Since  then  the  number  of  great  mission 
organizations  in  England  have  increased,  not  only  in  the 
Established  Episcopal,  but  in  the  Baptist,  Presbyterian, 
Wesleyan,  and  other  churches  ;  and  it  is  said  that,  taking 
all  sorts  of  Christian  missions  together,  those  of  the 
Greek  Church  as  well  as  of  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
churches,  there  are  not  less  than  a  hundred  thousand 
accredited  human  beings  engaged  in  some  capacity  or 
other  in  the  peculiar  work  of  preaching  to  the  heathen,  and 
that  many  millions  of  money  are  annually  expended  on 
behalf  of  that  cause.  In  regard  to  what  might  be  called 
these  material  forces  of  modern  missions.  Dr.  Angus,  at 
one  of  the  meetings  of  the  Evangelical  Alliance,  delib- 
erately stated  that  ''  with  50,000  missionaries  at  work  for 
ten  years,  and  with  ^15,000,000  a  year  for  ten  years  to 
support  them,  it  is  demonstrable  that  the  gospel  might 
be  preached,  and  preached  repeatedly,  to  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  on  the  earth."  This  would  be  but 
one  per  cent  of  the  members  of  evangelical  churches  in 


'  Westminster  Review,  Jan.,  1874. 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       553 

Christendom,  and  but  some  $15  a  year  from  each  member 
of  evangelical  churches  in  Europe  and  America.  This  is 
a  bold  statement,  and  does  not — as  such  statistical  state- 
ments never  do — convey  any  meaning.  We  do  not 
regard  such  reasoning  with  common  respect.  Rut  in  one 
sense  it  is  saying  that  the  world  now  is  coming  into  a 
shape  in  which  it  can  be  better  handled  for  missionary 
purposes.  As  far  as  human  means  go,  given  the  men 
and  given  the  money,  and  given  the  intelligent  zeal,  and 
with  the  exception  of  the  heart  of  the  Continent  of 
Africa,  and,  perhaps,  of  the  central  plateau  of  Asia, 
the  whole  world  is  accessible  to  the  gospel.  But  that  is 
a  small  part  of  the  matter.  It  does  not  express  the  vast 
and  almost  infinitely  extending  continents  of  moral  dark- 
ness still  remaining.  Yet  with  God  all  things  are  possible, 
mountains  are  as  level  plains,  and  the  command  is  to  go 
forward.  The  energy  of  an  apostolic  faith  is  required. 
The  history  of  the  little  New  Hermannsburg  Mission  on 
the  east  coast  of  Africa  is  an  example  of  what  but  one 
local  church  can  do  in  this  matter.  It  sprang  from  the 
Hermannsburg  Church  in  Hanover,  Germany,  under  the 
pastorate  of  Louis  Harms.  This  single,  obscure,  peasant 
church,  through  its  pastor's  sagacious  and  undaunted 
faith,  established  a  theological  school  for  the  instruction 
of  missionaries,  built  a  ship  at  Hamburg  to  carry  them  to 
Africa,  supplied  the  means  and  the  men  for  eight  vigor- 
ous colonies  in  that  distant  and  savage  field,  and  is  at 
this  time  carrying  on  a  successful  and  wide- extended 
African  mission,  reaching  from  the  Zulus  on  the  coast  to 
the  Bechuanas  in  the  centre,  and  from  the  Orange  River 
to  Laka  Nyami  ;  and,  quite  recently,  they  have  from 
Africa  sent  a  mission  to  India. 

The  real  beginning   of   missions   in   our   own   country 
dates  with  the   historic   beoinnings  of  the   nation.      Pal- 


554  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

frey,  speaking  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  says  :  "  With  a 
j^atriotic  yearning  they  desire  to  extend  the  dominion  of 
the  native  country,  which  refuses  to  give  them  a  peace- 
able home  on  its  broad  lands.  And  through  the  hard- 
ships of  a  long  voyage  and  an  unknown  continent,  they 
propose  to  be  missionaries  to  the  heathen."  He  also 
says,  speaking  of  the  appropriations  of  the  Legislature  as 
early  as  1644-46  :  "  The  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
was  thus  the  first  missionary  society  in  the  history  of 
Protestant  Christendom."  The  American  Board  of  For- 
eign Missions  was  formed  in  18 10,  so  that  it  is  now  only 
about  seventy-five-  years  old  ;  but  the  history  of  our 
American  foreign  missions  is  m.uch  too  familiar  a  story 
for  us  to  repeat. 

(4)  As    the   world    was    historically    prepared    for    the 
coming  of  Christ,  in   like   manner  it  is  historically  pre- 
pared for   the   extension  of  his  kingdom    in 

^    °  s  °     the  world.      External  events  anticipate  and 

foreign  mis-      .  ,         .   .        ,  .  ... 

aid  spiritual   events   since    we    must    believe 
sions.  ^ 

that  the  world  of  fact  is  ruled  on  the  princi- 
ples of  the  most  sure  and  rapid  advance  of  the  moral  realm. 
The  arts  of  Christian  civilization  have  in  some  cases  ap- 
l^arently  preceded  in  a  marked  manner  the  introduction 
and  propagation  of  the  gospel  ;  and  if  they  were  indeed 
truly  Christian,  if  they  were  permeated  with  the  Christian 
spirit,  we  do  not  see  why  they  would  and  should  not  be  in 
some  sense  the  precursors  of  Christianity  to  prepare  its 
way  in  heathen  lands.  Thus  Dr.  Livingstone  thought  that 
agriculture,  commerce,  and  the  industrial  arts-should  open 
the  way  for  the  gospel  in  Africa.  Why  not  ?  They  may 
be  in  the  providence  of  God  great  helps  and  have  some- 
times proved  to  be  so  ;  but  how  often,  on  the  contrary, 
have  they  proved  the  reverse.  The  Ashantee  and  other 
African  wars  opened  the  road  to  the  gold-digger,  and  in 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       555 

the  end  to  the  missionary  ;  but  Christian  missions  will 
be  thrown  back  half  a  century  by  the  gigantic  obstacles 
reared  in  the  native  mind  by  the  gold-diggers  and  the 
war.  Stanley's  rifles  on  the  Congo  river  were  harsh 
heralds  of  the  gospel.  Industry,  agriculture,  and  Chris- 
tianity may  go  along  very  well  together,  and  may  and 
should  be  of  mutual  assistance  to  each  other  ;  but  com- 
merce and  the  arts  of  civilization  without  Christianity  to 
leaven  them  with  a  new  spirit,  to  use  them  for  its  pure 
moral  ends,  to  restrict  and  prevent  the  injurious  influences 
of  those  selfish  and  destructive  elements  that  are  inherent 
in  them — these  would  not  convert  the  world.  You  might 
as  well  say,  leave  it  to  the  crude  processes  of  nature  to 
make  a  cultured  Christian  man.  In  the  same  way  the 
methods  of  science,  and  especially  of  the  science  of  politi- 
cal economy,  useful  as  they  are,  would  not  bring  men, 
morally,  nearer  God.  John  Stuart  Mill,  the  apostle  of 
political  science  in  these  days  (and,  in  his  case,  of  pure 
science  without  God  in  it),  devoted  his  life  disinterestedly 
to  the  social  improvement  of  his  race.  He  had  a  sincere 
desire  to  further  human  welfare.  But  what  was  this 
human  welfare  at  which  he  aimed,  that  was  to  be  at- 
tained by  scientific  methods  ?  In  the  words  of  one  of  his 
disciples,  "  The  ends  of  (Mr.  Mill's)  political  society  are 
life,  health,  liberty  and  immunity  from  pain,  and  not  the 
salvation  of  souls."  Even  by  the  confessions  of  some 
able  scientists  these  theories  for  the  regeneration  of  the 
race  are  on  a  lower  plane — they  have  regard  chiefly  to 
the  material"  amelioration  of  man,  and  they  deliberately 
exclude  from  their  efforts  the  ideal,  or  that  which  ends 
in  the  spiritual  and  supernatural,  which  has  relations  to 
God,  the  unknowable,  and  is  not  even  an  object  of 
science.  We  cannot  get  hope  for  the  world's  spiritual 
regeneration  from  Mr.  Mill's  school,  or  from  the  let-alone 


55^  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

theory  which  would  place  the  "simple  arts  of  civiliza- 
tion" before  Christianity  in  the  work  of  raising  the  con- 
dition of  the  heathen  mind  ;  not  considering  that  all  the 
useful  and  improving  arts  of  modern  civilization  are,  in  a 
great  degree,  themselves  the  fruits  of  Christianity.  The 
home,  the  school,  the  enlightened  system  of  trade,  the 
humane  laws,  the  freedom,  the  elevation  of  woman  — 
where  did  these  come  from  ?  If  it  were  not  for  Chris- 
tianity, where  would  be  a  true  civilization  ?  There  may 
be  false  civilizations  and  false  arts.  One  surely  would 
not  advocate  the  introduction  of  the  sensual  though 
refined  civilization  of  the  Greeks,  or  the  essentially  fero- 
cious civilization  of  the  Romans,  as  methods  of  religious 
renovation.  It  is  a  Christian  civilization  such  writers  are 
really  talking  of.  So  the  mere  exchange  of  coffee,  and 
spices,  and  palm  oil  for  money  and  calicoes  and  spirit- 
uous liquors — the  trade  spirit — has  nothing  moralh'  im- 
proving in  it.  It  has  no  moral  element,  but  often,  it 
might  be  said,  a  most  immoral  element.  It  would  fill  the 
house  of  God,  as  of  old,  with  merchandise  While  the 
useful  arts  and  economies  and  material  conveniences  that 
commerce  and  a  Christian  civilization  may  bring  in  their 
train  are  collateral  and  congenial  forces  with  the  gospel, 
they  can  no  more  do  the  gospel's  work  than  the  plate, 
and  knife,  and  spoon  can  do  the  life-giving  work  of  the 
food  they  hold. 

Let  us  look  at  the  essential  and  primary  agencies  of 
the  missionary  work — simple  but  sublime  in  their  divine 
adaptation  to  nourish  and  promote  the  spiritual  life  of 
men. 

The  mere  use  of  these  agencies  in  another  part  of  the 
earth  does  not  change  their  nature.  These  are  the  same 
here  that  they  are  in  Africa.  The  Word  and  the  Spirit 
are  the  renovating  powers  of  all  minds.      What  was   in 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       557 

the  beginning  the  way  of  evangelizing  men  born  in 
heathenism,  born  in  ignorance,  born  in  sin,  is  the  way 
now.  The  gospel  that  was  begun  to  be  preached  in 
Galilee  is  to  be  preached  in  Zululand  and  Turkistan. 
The  primitive  method  of  evangelization  (to  give  it  com- 
prehensively) is  contained  in  these  words,  Acts  5  :  42  : 
"  And  daily  in  the  temple,  and  in  every  house,  they 
ceased  not  to  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ." 

To  teach  and  preach  Jesus  Christ  is,  we  find,  the  central 
agency  of  Christian  missions  in  all  nations  and  ages.  The 
preaching  by  believing  men,  the  speaking  and  talking  by 
men  to  men,  in  God's  name,  concerning  Christ  and  his 
kingdom,  and  in  dependence  on  his  Spirit,  was  the  apos- 
tolic method  ;  and  the  missionary  who  to-day  stands  in  the 
streets  of  Smyrna  or  Bombay,  of  Canton  or  Amoy,  and 
talks  familiarly  and  kindly  to  all  who  will  listen,  or  who 
enters  a  native  house  and  speaks  to  the  family  of  the 
things  of  Christ,  comes  the  nearest  to  the  method  of  the 
apostles  and  of  the  seventy  and  of  those  who  went  every- 
where preaching  the  Word,  of  any  at  the  present  time/ 
Such  a  preacher  trusts  to  the  power  of  Christian  truth  in 
its  adaptation  to  the  wants  of  the  human  soul.  This 
humble  but  divine  agency  was  that  which  Christianized 
Madagascar,  in  which  island — the  field  of  the  faithful 
efforts  of  a  few  teachers  sent  out  by  an  English  mission- 
ary society — a  beautiful  and  pure  type  of  Christianity,  re- 
garding it  in  its  elementary  form,  sprang  up. 

There  are  two  methods  of  missionary  operation  which 
in  these  modern  times  present  themselves — the  Roman 
Catholic  and  the  Protestant.  The  Roman  Catholic 
method  is  to  overwhelm  a  heathen  nation  with  a  nominal 
Christianity,  to  Christianize  the  nation  as  a  nation,  and 


'  See  "  Life  of  Rev.  Wm.  C.  Burns." 


558  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

then  to  train  and  educate  its  individual  members  ;  it 
would  divide  the  whole  world  into  districts,  conquering 
and  baptizing  by  the  wholesale.  The  Protestant  method 
is  the  conversion  of  individual  men,  and  thus  in  course  of 
time  Christianizing  the  nation  and  the  vv^orld.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  latter  is  the  more  scriptural  and 
sure  way.  The  first  inures  more  to  the  glory  of  the 
Church,  the  second  to  the  glory  of  God.  Yet  we  are  not 
disposed  to  deny  that  it  might  be  an  advantage  which  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  himself  would  not  have  despised, 
to  have  a  whole  heathen  nation,  from  political  pressure 
or  any  other  reason,  become  at  once  nominally  Christian, 
or  take  Christianity  for  its  religion.  Obstacles  might  be 
removed  in  the  way  to  its  real  conversion.  But  the 
awakening  of  individual  minds  by  the  living  forces  of  the 
gospel  through  contact  with  the  living  preacher — the 
personal  choice  to  serve  God's  Son — this  is  the  way  the 
Apostle  Paul  went  to  work  in  the  great  pagan  nationali- 
ties bordering  the  Mediterranean,  While  he  assaulted 
Paganism  in  its  centres  in  the  large  cities,  he  attacked 
it  above  all  in  the  centre  and  the  citadel  of  hearts — 
as  those  "of  the  household  of  Cesar"  to  whom  he 
preached  at  Rome.  Each  soul  became  a  germ  of  life, 
quickly  spreading,  for  nothing  is  so  diffusive,  or  defies 
bounds,  whether  social  or  political,  as  spiritual  life. 
Shortly  we  see  that  the  Roman  Empire  was  too  narrow 
for  the  new  life.  The  Apostolic  Church  was  thus 
essentially  light-diffusing,  and  every  member  of  it  was 
an  evangelist  —  a  light  set  on  a  hill,  the  salt  of  the 
earth.  He  was  a  piece  of  the  gospel.  The  questions 
which  have  been  so  warmly  discussed  as  to  the  utility  of 
schools,  and  also  of  translations  and  publications  in 
native  tongues  among  the  heathen,  and,  in  fine,  of  all 
the  educational  arts  and  appliances  of  an  advanced  Chris- 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       559 

tian  civilization,  have  to  our  mind  been  made  too  much 
of,  both  for  and  against.  These  things  are  consequent 
upon  and  essential  to  the  preaching  of  Christ,  who  is  the 
Light  of  the  world.  The  schools  especially  prepare 
heathen  children  the  better  to  understand  the  Bible. 
They  really  impart  the  gospel  to  children.  They  also 
raise  up  and  fit  native  teachers  to  go  among  their  own 
people  and  speak  to  them  of  Christ.  The  books,  too, 
preach  Christ  to  a  literary  people,  like  the  Hindus,  the 
Chinese,  and  the  Ottomans  ;  for  preaching,  we  know,  is 
not  always  a  formal  address.  The  social  and  domestic  life 
of  the  missionary  family  also  show  the  fruits  of  Christian 
truth  in  Christian  living.  They  are  not  of  original  im- 
portance, but  they  have  a  bearing  position  on  the  efificacy 
of  the  great  agency  which  is  the  preaching  of  Christ  ;  and 
on  the  great  result  which  is  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen.  A  Christian  civilization  is  the  truest  evidence 
of  the  actual  advance  of  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands.  It 
both  marks  and  fixes  that  advance.  It  does  not  let  it 
slip  back  into  antique  barbarism,  but  holds  on  and  pre- 
serves those  precious  influences  which  are  thus  handed 
down  to  the  next  generation  ;  it  perpetuates  and  propa- 
gates the  original  fruits  of  Christian  missions  to  future 
ages.  In  regard  to  educating  the  heathen,  Dr.  Hamlin 
takes  strong  ground  in  his  work  entitled  "  Among  the 
Turks"  (Chap.  XVIII.).  He  says  that  three  systems 
have  been  advocated  with  reference  to  education  in  un- 
evangelized  lands.  The  first  is  the  vernacular,  where  no 
foreign  languages  are  taught  ;  and  teachers  and  native 
pastors  require  nothing  but  their  own  language.  The 
second  is  that  of  no  education  at  all.  The  gospel  should 
be  preached,  and  education  should  be  left  to  take  care  of 
itself.  The  Baptist  mission  at  Burrisal,  India,  has  been 
an  advocate  and  example  of  this  second  system.     The 


560  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

third  is  to  give  the  soundest  Christian  and  also  English 
education  possible  to  heathen  youth  of  both  sexes.  He 
advocates  this  third  method,  regarding  the  first  two  as 
wrong,  and  as  having  proved  total  failures  both  in 
Turkey  and  in  India.  Education  should  go  hand  in 
hand  with  the  preaching  of  the  gospel.  Dr.  Hamlin 
opposes  President  Seelye's  view  that  only  the  converted 
should  be  educated,  and  advocates  the  free  co-education 
of  heathens  and  Christians  ;  and,  to  our  view,  the  reasons 
he  adduces  are  reasonable  and  weighty  ;  and  when  he 
argues  especially  that  the  Apostle  Paul  would  have 
established  Christian  schools  and  colleges,  and  a  Christian 
literature  if  he  could  have  done  so,  he  quotes  in  favor 
of  his  theory  the  names  of  men  of  experience  and  ability, 
such  as  Dr.  Wilson,  and  many  of  the  most  excellent 
American  missionaries.  "  There  must,"  he  says,  "be  at 
least  some  education  in  the  languages.  The  nature  of  the 
human  mind  demands  it.  Every  system  of  education 
without  it  has  been  barren  of  good  results.  And  the 
native  pastor  especially  must  have  resources  beyond  the 
poverty  of  his  own  language,  or  he  will  never  maintain 
himself  as  an  acceptable  teacher  of  truth.  If  there  are 
exceptions  to  this,  they  were  so  rare  as  to  prove  the  rule." 
The  same  argument  might  be  adduced,  it  seems  to  us, 
with  about  equal  strength  in  favor  of  the  physical  sciences. 
Besides  simply  educating  the  heathen,  the  missionary  is 
called  upon  to  plant  the  seeds  of  a  genuine  Christian  soci- 
ety and  civilization.  He  is  necessarily  to  free  and  to  human- 
ize. The  great  business  of  the  Catholic  missionaries  at  Zan- 
zibar and  on  the  north-east  coast  of  Africa  at  present,  it  is 
said,  is  to  buy  up  children  from  a  state  of  slavery  and  to 
educate  them  as  Christians.  This  should  a  fortiori  be  the 
dut}'  and  privilege  of  all  Christian  missions  among  barba- 
rous or  semi-barbarous  nations,  especially  where  slavery 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       561 

exists.  The  missionary  is  to  instruct  in  the  arts  of  a 
higher  civiHzation.  He  is  forced  to  a  great  variety 
of  secular  employments — to  distribute  alms,  to  take 
care  of  the  poor  and  sick  about  him  ;  to  make  himself 
acquainted  with  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  country 
in  order  to  protect  himself  and  his  converts  ;  to  under- 
stand the  value  of  money  and  its  exchange  ;  to  know 
something  of  the  laws  of  trade  ;  to  teach  the  use  of 
mechanical  tools  and  promote  and  guide  industry  ;  to 
instruct  igyorant  heathen  how  to  till  the  land,  to  build 
houses,  to  cook  their  food,  to  clothe  themselves,  to  con- 
duct themselves  in  domestic  life,  to  treat  their  women 
and  children  ;  in  this  way  Williams  of  Erromanga,  and 
the  American  missionary  of  the  Sandwich  and  Fiji  islands 
(and,  we  would  add.  Bishop  Patteson  in  the  Milanesian 
Islands),  developed  out  of  an  entirely  savage  and  beastly 
heathenism,  a  true  Christian  state  of  living — a  Christian 
society  however  simple  its  character.' 

Dr.  Anderson  remarks  :  "  Comparing  the  present 
period  of  the  Church  with  the  apostolical,  we  come  to 
two  very  different  results  respecting  our  own  age.  One 
is  that  the  facilities  enjoyed  by  us  for  propagating  the 
gospel  throughout  the  world  are  vastly  greater  than  those 
enjoyed  by  the  apostles  ;  and  the  other  is,  that  it  is  far 
more  difficult  now  than  it  was  then  to  impart  a  purely 
spiritual  character  to  missions  among  the  heathen."  He 
goes  on  to  say  that  we  naturally  think  the  end  of  mis- 
sions is  to  produce  among  the  heathen  a  highly  improved 
state  of  societ)^,  such  as  we  ourselves  enjoy  ;  but  he 
maintains  that  the  great  end  of  missions  is  that  it  is  a 
religious  and  spiritual  work,  to  bring  the  heathen  to  a 
saving  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 


*  See  "  Hamlin  among  the  Turks,"  ch.  13. 


562  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

While,  then,  the  true  method  of  foreign  missions  is  not 
to  aim  primarily  at  the  conversion  of  the  nation,  but  of 
the  individual  man,  yet  in  order  to  carry  on  this  evangelis- 
tic work  in  the  apostolic  way,  native  ministers  must  be 
raised  up  and  native  churches  planted  which  shall  be 
themselves  missionary  churches.  We  quote  here  a 
few  paragraphs  from  Rev.  C.  H.  Wheeler's  excellent 
book  called  "  Ten  Years  on  the  Euphrates."  The 
author,  himself  a  successful  missionary,  says  :  "  The  one 
essential  thing  to  be  accomplished  by  missions  is  to  plant. 
and  develop  the  Cliristian  Cliu^'ch  and  to  set  its  members 
to  work  for  Christ."  "  The  aim  of  missions  is  to  evan- 
gelize, not  convert,  the  world  ;  not  at  all  events  to  finish 
it,  but  to  begin  it  under  such  conditions  as  by  the  divine 
blessing  will  insure  its  ultimate  success.  Men  from  Eng- 
land and  America  never  can  do  the  work  to  convert  the 
heathen  world.  The  single  ultimate  aim  of  missionary 
efforts  is  the  establishment  of  independent,  self-sustain- 
ing, self-propagating  Christian  churches.  Then  the  work 
is  to  be  regarded  as  done.  Thus  the  apostles  raised  up 
a  native  ministry  in  every  city.  Acts  14  ;  23."  This  is 
a  great  and  encouraging  idea  ;  it  lifts  the  burden  of  the 
overwhelming  and  almost  incredible  design  of  converting 
the  world  by  missionary  agencies  sent  from  Christian 
lands,  and  points  out  a  way,  that,  deprived  of  vague  ex- 
pectation, seems  practical  and  scriptural.  It  is  planting 
in  the  native  soil  a  living  plant  that  will  propagate 
itself  and  rapidly  spread.  "  The  churches  of  the  Har- 
poot  Mission  were  founded  in  this  way  ;  each  church 
was  left  to  choose  and  call  its  own  pastor  or  elder. 
Thus  a  confident,  dignified  native  ministry  was  estab- 
lished, and  not  a  mercenary  inferior  class. "  Mr.  Wheeler 
goes  on  to  say  that  schools  should  also  be  introduced 
as  a  fruit  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  but  not  as  an 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       563 

independent  agency  for  converting  the  heathen,  especially 
among  a  people  so  intellectually  self-conceited  as  the 
Arab  race  with  their  "unrivalled  language;"  but  that 
the  voice  of  the  living  preacher,  reading  the  Bible,  sing- 
ing, and  the  hymn-book — in  a  word,  the  Bible  talked 
over,  read  over,  and  sung  over — here  was  the  great  in- 
strumentality. He  scouts  the  idea  that  missionaries 
should  treat  the  heathen  as  paupers,  and  give  the  gospel 
to  them  without  effort  or  charge  on  their  part,  involving 
some  self-sacrifice  ;  otherwise  it  were  only  increasing  the 
unchanged  and  unappeased  Oriental  greed  for  the  loaves 
and  fishes.  The  heathen  should  be  taught  the  duty 
and  privilege  of  giving  to  the  support  of  the  gospel,  and 
to  all  benevolent  works. 

(5)  But  let  us  ask  (and  this  question  would  involve 
personal  responsibility),  What  are  the  main  qualifications 
of  the  missionary  ? 

"The    missionary    work,"     Mr.    Wheeler     ,^  \  *^^ '°°^ 

for  the  mis- 
says,    "is  first-class    work,    requiring    choice  g^Q^^j.       qj.j^ 

men."  The  impression  which  has  prevailed 
that  good,  dull  men  should  go  as  missionaries  to  the 
heathen  is  a  false  one.  No  work  demands  more  intel- 
lectual and  moral  energy.  What  extraordinary  energy 
was  exhibited  in  a  life  like  that  of  Titus  Coan,  the  apos- 
tle to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  who,  by  his  personal  and 
pastoral  labors  received  out  of  heathenism  into  the 
Christian  Church  more  than  thirteen  thousand  souls,  and 
whose  gifts  and  career  have  been  rudely  likened  to  those 
of  Chrysostom  !  It  is  true  that  he  who  has  a  good  mind 
and  a  believing  heart,  who  loves  his  Master  and  his 
fellow-men,  has  in  him  the  elements  of  a  missionary  ; 
but  there  are,  nevertheless,  some  special  qualifications 
that  go  to  make  the  efficient  Pauline  missionary  —  e.g. 
(i)  a  deedful  and  aggressive  faith,  not   merely  faith  that 


564  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

is  able  to  save  the  soul,  but  faith  that  burns  to  save 
other  men,  that  acts  as  an  impelling  motive,  ardent 
and  strong  enough  to  carry  one  through  and  over  the 
greatest  obstacles  to  this  good  end.  It  is  a  principle 
that  has  in  it  an  element  of  heroism,  fired  with  an  am- 
bition to  do  great  things,  and  not  to  build  on  other 
men's  foundations,  but  to  go  out  into  the  undiscovered 
realms  of  heathendom  and  make  new  conquests  of  love. 
(2)  A  hopeful  spirit,  one  that  is  not  given  to  despondency, 
but  courageous  and  cheerful,  that  bends  but  does  not 
break  ;  that  constitutes  a  man  capable  of  working 
kindly  with  others,  and  whose  energy  does  not  develop 
itself  in  the  selfish  love  of  power,  (3)  A  natural  gift 
of  persuasion,  or  a  certain  facility  in  dealing  with  men  ; 
a  native  eloquence  and  personal  magnetism  ;  an  un- 
taught skill  to  instruct  and  sway  minds,  that  can  adapt 
itself  easily  to  new  circumstances,  new  ways  of  think- 
ing and  illustration,  and  to  all  minds  and  hearts.  It 
is  true  that  almost  every  kind  of  talent  now  finds  em- 
ployment in  the  needs  and  work  of  the  Mission  House, 
but  he  who  cannot  learn  a  foreign  tongue  with  toler- 
able readiness,  will  not  possess  the  golden  key  to  unlock 
the  heathen  mind.  In  the  study  of  the  character  of  the 
apostles,  and  especially  of  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles, 
one  will  find,  even  to  the  gift  of  tongues,  the  primitive 
type  of  the  Christian  missionary  —  a  type,  we  think, 
perpetuated  and  reflected  in  many  of  our  foremost 
American  missionaries,  living  and  dead,  whose  names 
readily  occur.  These  men  did  not  think  themselves  great 
men,  and  perhaps  were  not  so  until  they  were  tried  by 
the  work  to  which  they  gave  themselves  unreservedly. 
Though  men  of  sound  minds,  some  of  them  of  brilliant 
minds,  yet  the  "  faith-talent"  was  their  special  gift. 
They  asked  only  to  go  and  do  and  suffer  and  die  for  Christ. 


THE  PASTOR' S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       565 

The  first  zeal  for  the  missionary  work  is  now  lost  in  the 
churches  and  theological  seminaries.  But  have  those  who 
are  now  going  forth  to  the  ministry  no  peculiar  call,  no 
special  reason  to  give  the  claims  of  foreign  missions  their 
earnest  attention  ?  At  home  or  abroad  we  can  be  good 
servants  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  but  should  there  be  no  ambi- 
tion among  young  men  to  rise  to  the  opportunities  of 
their  age,  to  discern  the  signs  of  the  times,  to  see  the 
great  things  God  is  doing  in  the  world,  to  hasten  the 
coming  of  his  kingdom  ?  Instead  of  joining  in  petty  sec- 
tarian and  ecclesiastical  controversies  at  home,  instead  of 
small  gleanings  in  these  well-worn  fields,  how  noble  were 
the  sight  of  a  small  army  of  young  men,  strong  in  purity 
of  purpose  and  holy  zeal,  departing  from  these  shores  and 
burning  the  ships  of  selfish  care  and  human  glory  behind 
them,  to  hurl  themselves  (as  we  have  used  the  figure), 
like  Cortez's  small  host,  into  the  vast  multitudes  of  the 
heathen  world,  to  fight  their  way  with  the  Word  and 
Spirit  to  the  conquest  of  heathenism  for  the  Christ.  We 
need  this  Pauline  enthusiasm  in  these  calculating  times. 
We  need  this  ardent  love.  We  need  this  holy  zeal  for 
the  cause  of  the  great  Captain  who  has  shown  us  the  road 
by  dying  himself  far  in  among  his  foes,  opening  the  way 
for  us  to  follow  in  his  steps. 

(6)  It  only  remains  to  say  a  few  words  upon  the  actual 
condition  of  the  heathen  world  and  the  prospects  of  the 
missionary  cause. 

John  Foster  thought  that  the  problem  of    Condition  of 
.   \  1-1         ^^^  heathen 

moral    evil,    especially    as    presented    in  the  ,  ■ 

stupendous  form  of  the  heathen  world,  could 

not  be  solved   by  reason  ;   that  it  must  be  left  unsolved 

in   simple  faith.      We  should  endeavor,   however,  in  the 

mean  time,  as  loyal  disciples  of  the  Saviour,  whose  love 

is  the  fount  of  missions,  to   do  what  we  can  to  solve  this 


566  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

terrible  problem,  striving  to  dra\r  from  it  the  lessons  of 
discipline,  self-denial,  patience,  love,  and  courageous 
faith. 

God's  counsels  in  respect  of  the  heathen  are  a  profound 
deep.  If,  indeed,  the  burden  could  not  be  laid  upon 
Him,  and  the  government  of  the  world  reposed  in  Him, 
the  Christian  could  hardly  live  and  be  cheerful  at  the 
prospect  of  the  existence  of  such  a  mass  of  moral  and 
spiritual  corruption. 

That  we  should,  as  Christians,  be  kept,  as  Foster  says, 
"  in  an  habitual  and  alarming  sense  of  the  fact"  of  the 
moral  peril  of  a  large  portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
world,  two  things  should  be  ever  before  us — the  repre- 
sentation of  the  Word  of  God  in  respect  of  the  heathen, 
and  the  actual  state  of  the  heathen. 

(i)  The  Scriptures  strongly  represent  the  condition  of 
fearful  responsibility  in  which  the  heathen  lie.  The 
Apostle  Paul  lays  this  down  with  distinctness.  Their  sin 
seems  to  be  this,  that  as  races  and  individuals  they  have 
to  such  an  extent  extinguished  the  truth  or  light  of  God 
in  their  minds,  a  truth  which  is  congenital  to  the  mind, 
and  which  nature  is  sufficient  to  keep  alive,  that  they  do 
not,  on  account  of  their  evil  lusts  like  to  retain  God  in 
their  hearts,  and  have  wilfully  obscured  his  law  written 
in  the  conscience.  They  do  not  what  they  might  do. 
They  do  not  live  up  to  the  light  they  have. 

(2)  The  actual  moral  and  spiritual  debased  estate  of  the 
heathen  world  can  doubtless  hardly  be  exaggerated. 
The  descriptions  of  missionaries  are  often  but  the  ex- 
panding of  Paul's  catalogue  of  vices.  Their  moral  cor- 
ruption seems  sometimes  as  if  they  had  literally  taken 
evil  to  be  their  good. 

But  God  has  not  left  himself  without  witnesses  in 
every  nation,  even  the  darkest — m.en   groping  after  God 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       567 

if  haply  they  might  find  him,  and  whose  mental  attitude, 
like  that  of  the  African  eunuch  and  Cornelius  the  centu- 
rion, is  such  that  Christ  would  be  at  once  received  if  pre- 
sented. There  is  something  in  every  mind,  however  de- 
graded, that  the  gospel  is  able  to  reach — a  religious  sense 
which  belongs  to  man.  If  indeed  there  be  no  such 
intuition,  no  absolute  power  in  man  that  can  appre- 
hend the  infinite,  then  we  confess  there  is  nothing  for 
religious  teaching  to  appeal  to,  nothing  to  build  faith 
upon.  But,  after  all,  notwithstanding  its  perversion,  the 
heathen  mind  is  left.  The  humanity  is  left  which  has  its 
basis  in  the  divine  self-hood  or  being.  There  is  the  re- 
ligious nature.  This  capacity  for  faith  manifests  itself 
in  every  form  of  religion  ;  and  in  every  human  intelli- 
gence, however  debased,  there  is  a  distorted  image  of 
truth.  There  is  a  sense  of  right  which  is  a  reflection 
of  God  in  the  soul.  Idolatry  itself  is  a  shadow  of  true 
worship.  We  would  quote  some  strong  words  from 
Thomas  Carlyle  ("  Lectures  on  Heroes")  both  as  respects 
the  sad  bewilderment  of  paganism,  and  also  the  fact  of 
the  element  of  a  certain  genuineness  in  it  as  being  the 
offspring  of  the  religious  sentiment  in  man  : 

"  Surely  it  seems  a  very  strange-looking  thing  this 
paganism  ;  almost  inconceivable  to  us  in  these  days.  A 
bewildering,  inextricable  jungle  of  delusions,  confusions, 
falsehoods,  and  absurdities,  covering  the  whole  field  of 
life  !  A  thing  that  fills  us  with  astonishment,  almost, 
if  it  were  possible,  with  incredulity  ;  for  truly  it  is  not 
easy  to  understand  that  sane  men  could  ever  calmly, 
with  their  eyes  open,  believe  and  live  by  such  a  set  of 
doctrines.  That  men  should  have  worshipped  their  poor 
fellow-man  as  a  god,  and  not  him  only,  but  stocks  and 
stones,  and  all  manner  of  animate  and  inanimate  objects  ; 
and  fashioned  for  themselves  such  a  distracted  chaos  of 


568  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

hallucinations  by  way  of  theory  of  the  universe  ;  all  this 
looks  like  an  incredible  fable.  Nevertheless  it  is  a  clear 
fact  that  they  did  it.  Such  hideous,  inextricable  jungle 
of  misworships,  misbeliefs,  men  made  as  we  are,  did 
actually  hold  by  and  have  life  at  home  in.  This  is 
strange.  Yes,  we  may  pause  in  sorrow  and  silence  over 
the  depths  of  darkness  that  are  in  man,  in  all  men,  in  us 
too."  ...  "  Some  speculators  have  a  short  way  of  ac- 
counting for  the  pagan  religion  ;  mere  quackery,  priest- 
craft, and  dupery,  say  they  ;  no  sane  man  ever  did  be- 
lieve it — merely  contrived  to  persuade  other  men,  not 
worthy  of  the  name  of  sane,  to  believe  it  !  It  will  be 
often  our  duty  to  protest  against  this  sort  of  hypothesis 
about  men's  doings  and  history  ;  and  I  here,  on  the  very 
threshold,  protest  against  it  in  reference  to  paganism, 
and  to  all  other  isms  by  which  man  has  ever  for  a  length 
of  time  striven  to  walk  in  this  world.  They  have  all  had 
a  truth  in  them,  or  men  would  not  have  taken  them  up. 
Quackery  and  dupery  do  abound  ;  in  religions,  above  all 
in  the  more  advanced  decaying  stages  of  religions,  they 
have  fearfully  abounded  ;  but  quackery  was  never  the 
originating  influence  in  such  things,  it  was  not  the  health 
and  life  of  such  things,  but  their  disease,  the  sure  precur- 
sor of  their  being  about  to  die.  Let  us  never  forget 
this.  It  seems  to  me  a  most  mournful  hypothesis,  that 
of  quackery  giving  birth  to  any  faith  even  in  savage 
men.  Quackery  gives  birth  to  nothing  ;  gives  death  to 
all  things.  We  shall  not  see  into  the  true  heart  of  any- 
thing, if  we  look  merely  at  the  quackeries  of  it  ;  if  we  do 
not  reject  the  quackeries  altogether  ;  as  mere  diseases, 
corruptions  with  which  our  and  all  men's  sole  duty  is  to 
have  done  with  them,  to  sweep  them  out  of  our  thoughts 
as  out  of  our  practice.  We  shall  begin  to  have  a  chance 
of  understanding  paganism,  when  we  first  admit  that  to 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       569 

its  followers  it  was,  at  one  time,  earnestly  true.  Let  us 
consider  it  very  certain  that  men  did  believe  in  pagan- 
ism ;  men  with  open  eyes,  sound  senses,  men  made  alto- 
gether like  ourselves  ;  that  we,  had  we  been  there,  should 
have  believed  in  it." 

As  to  the  question  which  of  the  two  preceded  in  the 
order  of  time,  polytheism  or  theism,  the  argument,  we 
think,  is  in  favor  of  the  latter.  There  must  first  have 
been  one  object  for  it  to  have  been  divided.  Synthesis 
is  a  simpler,  more  original  operation  of  the  mind  than 
analysis.  Then  there  is  the  fact  of  an  original  revela- 
tion. Cardinal  Manning  says,  probably  with  truth  : 
"  Though  the  existence  of  God  may  be  proved  by  rea- 
son, and  from  lights  of  the  natural  order,  it  is  certain 
that  the  knowledge  of  God's  existence  anticipated  all 
such  reasoning.  The  theism  of  the  world  is  not  a  dis- 
covery. Mankind  possessed  it  by  primeval  revelation, 
were  penetrated  and  pervaded  by  it  before  any  one 
doubted  it,  and  reasoning  did  not  precede,  but  followed 
the  doubt.  Theists  came  before  philosophers,  and 
theism  before  atheism,  or  even  a  doubt  about  the  exist- 
ence of  God.  St.  Paul  says,  "  The  invisible  things  of 
him  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being 
understood  by  the  things  that  arc  made,  even  his  eternal 
power  and  godhead,  so  that  they  are  without  excuse." 

It  may  be  reasoned  that  the  order  which  pervades  the 
universe  forces  a  rational  mind  to  recognize  the  unity  of 
the  Creator  ;  but  we  also  believe  that  a  direct  revelation 
of  this  great  truth  was  made  to  man  in  the  very  make  of 
his  mind,  in  the  very  circumstances  of  his  original  crea- 
tion. He  would  not  have  been  left  to  grope  in  the  dark 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  necessary  truth.  The  truth 
that  an  original  revelation  of  One  God  was  once  made  to 
the  race,  of  which  revelation   the  ancient  religions,  even 


57°  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

the  most  polytheistic  of  them,  retain  the  evidences,  is 
argued  with  power  by  Max  Miiller  in  his  review  of 
Renan's  "  Histoire  Generate  et  Systeme  Compard  des 
Langucs  Scmiiiqucs.'"  Renan  lays  down  the  proposition 
that  the  monotheistic  idea  is  the  conception  solely  of  the 
Semitic  races  ;  that  it  springs  from  an  instinctive  and 
constitutional  cause  in  the  frame  of  the  Semitic  mind, 
and  not  from  the  highest  quality  of  mind  either.  But 
Miiller  shows  that  it  cannot  be  so,  that  although  the 
three  great  monotheistic  religions,  the  Jewish,  the  Chris- 
tian, and  the  Mohammedan  sprang  from  the  Semitic 
nations,  yet  that  in  the  case  of  the  Jew,  for  instance, 
there  was  a  frequent  and  fearful  tendency  to  a  relapse 
into  polytheistic  worship,  and  that  all  other  ancient  na- 
tions and  religions  had  the  same  original  monotheistic 
conception,  as  is  confessed  and  confirmed  by  St.  Paul's 
language  in  his  sermon  on  Mars'  Hill,  "  Him  whom  ye 
ignorantly  worship,"  i.e,  through  these  various  forms, 
images,  symbols,  and  shadows  "  I  show  unto  you." 
Miiller  asserts  that  many  among  the  classic  and  even 
Indian  heathens  looked  through  this  confusing  polytheis- 
tic cloud  and  discerned  the  true  and  one  God.  "  Thus 
Xenophanes,  one  of  the  earliest  Greek  heretics,  boldly 
maintained  that  there  was  but  one  God  and  that  he  was 
not  like  unto  men,  either  in  body  or  mind.  A  poet  in 
the  Veda  asserts  distinctly,  "  They  call  him  '  Indra, ' 
'  Metra,'  '  Varuna,'  '  Agni,'  then  he  is  the  '  well-winged, 
heavenly  Garutmat  ;  '  that  which  is  One,  the  wise." 
The  ancient  religions  are  now  undergoing  a  more  intelli- 
gent and  candid  investigation  from  a  broad  and  compara- 
tive scholarship,  and  the  truth,  we  doubt  not,  will  be 
made  to  appear  that  in  all  nations  and  peoples  there  will  be 
found,  in  Miiller's  language,  "  that  the  feeling  of  sonship 
is  inherent  in  and  inseparable  from  human  nature.     That 


THE  PASTOR" S  RELATIONS   TO   THE  CIIURCIf.       571 

feeling  may  find  expression  in  a  thousand  ways,  but 
there  breathes  through  all  of  them  the  inextinguishable 
conviction.  '  It  is  he  that  hath  made  us,  and  not  we  our- 
selves.'  "  This  feeling  of  sonship  may  with  some  races 
manifest  itself  in  fear  and  trembling,  and  it  may  drive 
whole  generations  into  religious  madness  and  devil  wor- 
ship. In  other  countries  it  may  tempt  the  creature  into 
a  fatal  familiarity  with  the  Creator,  and  end  in  an 
apotheosis  of  man,  or  a  headlong  plunging  of  the  human 
into  the  divine.  It  may  take,  as  with  the  Jews,  the 
form  of  a  simple  assertion  that  "Adam  was  the  Son 
of  God,"  or  it  may  be  clothed  in  the  mythological 
phraseology  of  the  Hindoos,  that  Man  was  the  de- 
scendant of  the  Self- Existing.  But,  in  some  form  or 
other,  the  feeling  of  dependence  on  a  higher  Power 
breaks  through  in  all  the  religions  of  the  world,  and  ex- 
plains to  us  the  meaning  of  St.  Paul,  "  That  God, 
though  in  times  past  he  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  in 
their  own  ways,  nevertheless  he  left  not  himself  without 
witness,  in  that  he  did  good  and  gave  us  rain  from  heaven, 
and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  our  hearts  with  food  and  glad- 
ness." 

The  time  has  come  when  theological  students  and 
ministers,  and  indeed  all  thoughtful  Christians,  will  make 
the  study  of  comparative  religion,  of  ancient  religions  as 
well  as  of  the  existing  religions  outside  of  Christen- 
dom, with  a  more  earnest  spirit  of  true  syncretism  and 
charity,  with  a  much  stronger  hope  of  renovating  the  na- 
tions through  a  purer  faith.  Although  not  one  of  the 
heathen  religions  satisfactorily  arrives  at  the  true  idea  of 
God,  or  rightly  explains  the  theory  of  the  universe,  or 
the  fact  of  moral  evil,  or  the  way  to  holiness,  yet  in  them 
all  is  traced  the  instinctive  though  baffled  workings  of 
the  mind  toward  the  higher  truth.     Idolatry,  polytheism, 


572  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

materialism,  pantheism,  developed  from  the  wants  of  the 
soul,  and  the  observation  of  the  forces  and  phenomena  of 
nature,  succeed  each  other  by  turns. 

The  irrepressible  moral  instincts  of  humanity,  the 
craving  to  find  the  cause  for  an  effect,  the  yearning  to  be 
freed  from  the  power  and  troublings  of  sin,  the  universal 
instinct  of  immortality,  the  desire  of  happiness,  and  the 
sense  of  right,  longing  for  expression,  are  doubtless  the 
deepest  subjective  origin  of  the  religious  systems  of  na- 
ture outside  of  Christianity  ;  and  could  we  doubt  that 
something  which  is  really  good  and  true,  mingled  with 
a  vast  deal  more  that  is  corrupt,  would  be  the  result  ? 

The  varieties  of  religious  belief,  unguided  by  absolute 
truth,  are  really  the  result  of  the  same  law  that  produces 
varieties  in-  society,  manners,  laws,  and  art. 

Even  polytheism  and  the  mythological  nature-relig- 
ions, like  that  of  the  Greeks,  were  doubtless  in  their  origin 
governed  by  natural  laws  which  will  be  in  the  future  more 
intelligently  studied  by  those  who  desire  to  implant  the 
true  faith  in  heathen  minds.  This  study  will  awaken 
hope.  There  will  be  seen  to  be  beneath  these  systems 
an  irresistible  gravitation  toward  the  idea  of  one  God  — 
the  idea  of  pure  theism.  "  Plato  never  could  have 
sprung  out  of  a  race  of  barbarians,"  or  of  atheists. 
Aristotle's  ethics  have  not  been  essentially  improved 
vipon  excepting  by  the  introduction  into  them  of  the 
principle  of  Christian  love.  "  The  ethic  code  of  Buddha 
is  superior  to  every  heathen  system,  not  excepting  that 
of  Zarathustra.  It  forbids  the  taking  of  life  from  even 
the  humblest  animal  in  creation,  it  prohibits  falsehood, 
dishonesty,  intemperance,  and  incontinence — vices  which 
are  referable  to  three  predominant  passions,  concupis- 
cence, anger,  and  ignorance.  These  involve  hypocrisy, 
pride,  and  want  of  charity,  ungenerous  suspicion,  covet- 


THE  rASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       573 

ousness  in  every  form,  evil  wishes  to  others,  the  betrayal 
of  secrets,  and  the  propagation  of  slander,  all  which 
forms  of  evil  are'  strictly  forbidden.  On  the  other  hand, 
every  conceivable  virtue  and  excellence  are  simultane- 
ously enjoined,  and  forgiveness  of  injuries,  the  practice 
of  charity,  reverence  of  virtue,  the  cherishing  of  learn- 
ing ;  submission  to  discipline,  veneration  for  parents,  the 
care  of  one's  family,  a  sinless  vocation,  contentment  and 
gratitude,  subjection  to  reproof,  moderation  in  pros- 
perity, submission  under  affliction,  and  cheerfulness  at  all 
times." 

Beautiful,  however,  as  many  of  the  ethical  precepts 
of  Buddhism  sound,  the  theories  of  Buddhism  and  of 
all  heathen  religions,  ancient  and  modern,  have  failed 
in  realizing  in  practice  the  virtues  which  they  even 
vaguely  proclaim.  Polytheism  gives  man  no  law  within 
himself.  Buddhism  is  not  a  religion  at  all,  but  a  philoso- 
phy, and  a  philosophy  of  the  most  transcendental  de- 
scription. It  divorces  religion  from  morality.  It  is,  like 
some  of  the  latest  utterances  of  German  philosophy  (the 
philosophy  of  the  Unconscious)  the  religion  of  despair. 
Its  very  heaven  is  so  shadowy  that  it  amounts  to  annihi- 
lation. But  Max  Miiller  truly  says  that  "  a  comprehen- 
sive and  scholar-like  treatment  of  the  religions  of  the 
world  is  still  a  desideratum  ;  and  it  is  a  part  of  Christian 
charity  and  candor  to  study  the  heathen  religions  before 
condemning  them." 

(7)  Let  us  say  in  conclusion  that  foreign  missions 
are  no  longer  an  experiment.  They  have  proved 
by  their  fruits  their  right  to  be.  Where  even  there  is 
little  visible  fruit  there  has  gone  forth  an  Foreign  mis- 
ever-working  and  powerful  influence.  The  sions  not  an 
Christian  Church  has  at  last  an  awakened  experiment, 
consciousness  of  its  debt  of  love  to  the  heathen — that  it 


574  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

is  put  in  trust  of  the  gospel  to  give  it  to  those  who  have 
it  not. 

In    India,    China,    Syria,    Christian    missionaries  have 
made  their  indeHble.  impression.      They  have  stated  their 
case.     They  have  asserted  the  claims  and  set  forth  the 
nature  of   the   new   religion  of  Christ.      The  old  systems 
and  the   new   religion   have   been   brought   face  to  face. 
Many  things  in  these   countries  actually   favor  the  prog- 
ress of  Christianity.      A  sort  of   penumbra  of  the  coming 
kingdom  of  God  is  spreading  over  them.     As  has  already 
been  said,  God   has  given  grounds  of  hope  to  encourage 
us  to  labor  for  the  heathen,  inasmuch  as  his  living  Spirit 
is  present  in   the  hearts  of  all  his  creatures  ;  and   in  the 
fact  that  the  gospel  has   power  to  reach  that  religious 
capacity,  that   sense  of    God,  which,   however  deadened 
and   obscured,  still   slumbers   in   every  human   soul,  and 
which,  even  in  the  heathen  mind,  struggles  tortuously  to 
reach  the  source  whence  it  came.      There  is  something  of 
perverted   common   truth,    of  the   blind   working  of  the 
religious    principle,  in    many    of    the    heathen    religions, 
to    which    the    gospel    can,    at    some    time,    we    believe, 
strongly    and  successfully  appeal.      The    expectation    of 
something    better    to    come,  as  among  the  Hindus  and 
the    Mohammedans,   the    prevalence  of    the    vague    idea 
of  a  Messiah  who  is  to  renovate  these  moribund  religions 
this  is  a  sign  not  to  be  lost  sight  of.      In  the  deep-rooted 
Confucian  idea  of  the  paternal  relation  and  government, 
interwoven    in   all   the  life,   worship,   and   civilization   of 
China,  the  Christian  belief  in  a  heavenly  Father  finds  a 
faint  af^nity  and  preparation  ;  in  the  Indian  conception 
of  absorption  into  Buddha,  the  profound  truth  of  man's 
being  made  a  partaker  of  the  divine  nature  through  the 
incarnation  and  sufferings  of  Jesus  Christ,   is  shadowed 
forth  ;  in  the  Islamic  faith  in   one  God  who  is  a  Spirit, 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       575 

the  Christian  truth  of  the  unity  and  spirituaHty  of  the 
divine  nature,  as  well  as  the  central  doctrine  of  a  future 
judgment,  awaken  a  certain  response.  Even  the  arlte- 
Christian  pantheism  of  the  older  pagan  religions,  which 
still  lingers  in  them,  is  different  from  that,  and  has  more 
sincerity  in  it,  and  more  of  the  memory  of  a  lost  mono- 
theism, than  the  deliberate  anti-Christian  pantheism  of 
the  modern  naturalistic  philosophy. 

We  look  upon  the  Brahmo  Somaj  movement  in  India 
with  interest,  as  an  evidence  of  the  spread  of  Christian 
truth,  and,  notwithstanding  the  severe  criticisms  that 
have  been  made  by  Christian  journals  upon  Max  Miil- 
ler's  remarks  on  this  point,  we  coincide  with  him  in 
thinking  it  to  be  an  important  movement,  and,  by  the 
blessing  of  God,  a  great  advance,  leading  to  something 
still  greater.  It  only  does  not  go  far  enough.  Let  us, 
however,  compare  it  with  the  bottomless  systems  of  su- 
perstition that  the  Brahmo  Somaj  has  emerged  from,  and 
then  we  will  see  its  vast  and  hopeful  progress.  It  has 
abandoned  caste.  It  has  taken  up  a  missionary  attitude 
and  is  preaching  pure  theism.  It  has  given  up  all  Oriental 
prejudices  against  Christianity.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  Christian 
theism,  viewing  God,  in  many  respects,  in  a  New  Testa- 
ment light,  though  not  yet  admitting  the  perfect  light  of 
Christ's  divinity,  and  divine  work  for  man.  Its  prayers 
are  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  Christian  prayers. 
It  seeks  after  a  holy  life  in  union  with  God.  It  honors 
especially  two  great  and  deep  principles  of  the  religious 
life  as  set  forth  by  Christ — viz.,  the  forgiveness  of 
others,  and  self-sacrifice.  Its  worship  is  devoid  of  super- 
stitious rites,  is  rational,  and  consists  of  hymns,  prayers, 
and  a  discourse  upon  some  high  moral  and  religious 
theme.  It  is  among  the  best  of  natural  religions 
tinged  and  deepened  by  Christianity.      The  late   Keshub 


576  PASTORAL    THEOLOGY. 

Chunder    Sen,    its    best    and    purest    exponent,    says    of 
Christ  : 

"  I  have  not  derived  my  conceptions  of  Christ  or  his 
ethics  from  the  dogmatic  theology  or  the  actual  life  of 
any  class  of  his  followers.  I  do  not  identify  him  with 
any  Christian  sect.  I  have  gone  direct  to  the  Bible  to 
ascertain  the  genuine  doctrines  of  morality  inculcated  by 
Christ  ;  and  it  is  my  firm  conviction  that  his  teachings 
find  a  response  in  the  universal  consciousness  of  human- 
ity, and  are  no  more  European  than  Asiatic,  and  that  in 
his  ethics  '  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew,  circumcised 
nor  uncircumcised,  barbarian  nor  Scythian,  bond  nor 
free.'  May  we  all  learn  to  draw  near  to  God  by  con- 
fessing to  the  spirit  of  these  precepts."  Shall  we  take 
no  encouragement  from  such  words,  coming  from  the 
depths  of  India  and  from  a  native  man  and  a  body  of 
native  men,  who  accept  Christ  as  "  Lord  "  in  the  sense 
that  he  is  the  Holy  One,  or  the  representative  of  God's 
character  and  truth  in  human  nature  ?  Let  them  ear- 
nestly receive  Christ  as  a  Teacher,  how  long  will  it  be  be- 
fore they  receive  him  as  a  Redeemer? 

We  are  disposed  to  find  encouragement,  therefore,  in 
all  this,  as  affording  some  vantage-ground  for  the  gospel 
to  occupy  in  those  unchristianized  lands,  and  as  proving 
that  God  does  not  leave  himself  without  witness  among 
any  people.  And  we  see,  too,  that  where  the  gospel 
goes  it  has  fresh  power  and  produces  fruits  of  wonderful 
beauty,  and  its  steps  are  like  the  advances  of  spring  over 
the  wintry  earth.  But  those  who  have  the  gospel  must 
still,  as  of  old,  send  it  to  those  who  have  it  not.  It  de- 
pends greatly  upon  Christian  pastors,  if  they  themselves 
have  the  evangelic  spirit,  whether  the  churches  are 
aroused  to  zeal,  are  led  to  pray,  and  to  give,  and  to  give 
themselves  to  this  pure   form  of  missionary  service,  and 


THE  PASTOR'S  RELATIONS  TO   THE  CHURCH.       577 

are  filled  witli  activity  in  a  work  which  looks  beyond  the 
horizon  of  the  present,  which  is  unselfish  in  its  spirit,  and 
whose  principle  of  labor  and  success  is  wrapped  up  in  the 
pregnant  words,  "  According  to  your  faith  be  it  unto 
you  !" 

Never  was  it  so  true  as  now  that  "  the  field  is  the 
world."  Never  was  the  whole  world  so  hopefully  open 
to  a  true  and  humane  and  catholic  gospel.  Never  have 
old  errors  and  false  religions  and  spiritual  oppressive  sys- 
tems of  error  and  doubt  that  have  bound  this  groaning 
and  travailing  earth,  shown  such  evident  signs  of  weak- 
ness and  readiness  to  vanish  away.  Never  was  such  a 
call  from  the  heart  of  humanity  for  His  coming  who  is 
the  "  Desire  of  nations."  Never  was  it  so  great  a  sin  of 
unbelief  for  the  Church  and  the  disciples  of  Christ  to  be 
insensible  to  the  debt  of  love  they  owe  their  fellow-men. 
The  unity  of  God  involves  the  unity  of  the  human  race. 
The  new  and  divine  law  of  love  to  our  neighbor  has  taken 
on  world-wide  proportions  that  cannot  be  met  by  the  best 
efforts  of  human  philanthropy,  or  philosophy,  however 
noble  or  ideally  grand  ;  for  it  seeks  to  free,  and  to  trans- 
form with  a  divine  life  that  which  is  immortal  in  human- 
ity ;  it  rises  above  every  distinction  of  name  and  nation, 
and  aims  at  bringing  all  men  whom  Christ  loved  into  one 
true  brotherhood  of  man,  and  under  one  blessed  and  ever- 
lasting fatherhood  of  God. 


INDEX. 


A. 

Adaptation,  395. 

Affliction,  visiting  those  in,  430. 

'AyysXoc,  title  of  the  ministry,  59. 

Alexander,  Dr.  J.  W.,  508. 

Almsgiving,  537,  et  seq. 

Ambrose,  98. 

Ambrosian  chant,  306. 

Amusements,  203. 

Anderson,  Dr.,  561. 

Apostles,  the  first  Christian  minis- 
ters, 25. 
number  of,  25. 

Apostolical  succession,  32,  107. 

'Arrwrro/lof,  name  and  office  of,  28, 
et  seq. 

Applause,  temptation  to  seek.  116. 

Arnold,  Dr.  Thomas,  11,  138,  259. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  148,  171. 

Architecture,     ecclesiastical,      2S6, 
288. 

Art,  in  public  worship,  286,  289. 
principles  of,  in  church  music, 
307- 

Augustine,  12. 

Auricular  confession,  424. 

B. 

Bacon,  Lord,  146. 
Baptism,  significance  of  the  rite, 
354,  et  seq. 
mode  of,  363. 
Barrow,  Isaac,  197. 
Basilica,  the,  292. 
Baxter,  Richard,  9,  392. 


Benevolent   activity,   the  church's, 

507,  535. 

Bengel,  ''Pastoral  Grundsaetze," 
II,  396. 

Bernard,  St.,  141. 

Bible,  its  study  as  an  aid  to  devo- 
tion, 138. 

Bishop,  scriptural  use  of  the  term. 
55.  107. 
relation  to  presbyter,  55. 

Brahmo  Somaj,  the,  575. 

Bridge,  "  Christian  ministry,"  10. 

Broad    Church,   preachers   of   the, 

324- 

Bruce,  "  Training  of  the  Twelve," 
26. 

Bryce,  "  Transcaucasia  and  Ara- 
rat," 107. 

Buddhism,  572. 

Bunyan,  John,  38. 

Burial  service,  384. 

Burnet,  Bp.,  8,  84,  90,  91. 

Bushnell,  Dr.  Horace,  487.  488, 
532- 

Business  habits,  benefit  to  the  pas- 
tor, 191. 

Butler,  Bp.,  115,  201. 

C. 

Call  to  the  ministry,  necessity  of, 
82. 

nature  of,  87. 

signs  of,  93. 
Calvin,  John,  375. 
"Cambridge  Platform,"  105,  378. 


INDEX. 


Carlyle,  Thomas,  495,  567. 
Catechetics,  533. 
Catholic  missions,  551. 
Celibacy  of  the  clergy,  188. 
Chalmers,    Dr.  Thomas,   128,  167, 

202,  535,  545. 
Channing,  Dr.,  173. 
Chasteness,  177. 
Chaucer,  quoted,  167,  411. 
Cheerfulness,  i8x. 
Children  of  the  church,  35S,  359. 
Choir,  the  church,  309,  310. 
Choral,  the    foundation  of    Protes- 
tant church  music,  309. 
Christ,  model  of  the  pastor,  74. 

his  teaching,  76. 

his  presence,  120. 

his   spiritual    presence  at    the 
Lord's  supper,  373. 

offered   to  the  weary  and   sick, 

423- 
source  of  spiritual  life,  447. 
Christian  art,  309,  380. 
Christianity,  the    only    missionary 

religion,  547. 
Christian  nurture,  531. 
Chrysostom,  Neander's  Life  of,  11. 
"  Ilept  tepoavvijg"  11. 
quoted,  12,  21,  42,  43,  56. 
Church,  in  Jerusalem,  27. 
definition  of  the,  513. 
the   pastor's    relations    to  the, 

^i'i,et  scq. 
power  of  mainly  spiritual,  516. 
discipline  of  the,  521. 
membership  of  the,  355,  513. 
Church  edifice,  the,  285. 
Coan,  Titus.  563. 
Coleman,  "  The  Primitive  church," 

34>  52,  55- 
Comparative    religion,    study    of, 

571- 
Congregation,  theory  of  a  Christian, 

296.^ 
Congregational  singing,  314. 


Conversation,    cultivation    of    the 
power  of,  209. 

religious,  506. 
Conversion,  philosophy  of,  451. 

nature  of,  467. 
Convert,  the  young,  475,  et  seq. 
Cotton,  John,  105,  244. 
Courtesy,  ig6. 
Covetousness,  sin  of,  213. 
Conybeare  and  Howson,  "Life  of 

St.  Paul,"  II,  285,  520. 
Cranmer,  Abp.,  374. 
Culture,  value  of  scholarly,  150. 
Cyprian,  154. 
Cyril,  of  Jerusalem,  381. 

O. 

Darwin,  325. 

Democracy,  the,  !n   religious  wor- 
ship, 290,  298. 
AtaKOvia,  60. 
AidacKuTiO^,  52. 
Doddridge,  Dr.,  394. 
Doubt,  treatment  of,  324,  438,465. 
Dying,    pastoral  visitation  of  the, 
425. 
prayer  with  the,  427. 

£. 
Earnestness  in  preaching,  329. 

independent   thought   a   proof 

of,  324. 
Eclipse  of  faith,  96. 
Education,  the  pastor's  interest  in, 

221. 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  164. 
Election,  doctrine  of,  454. 
Eliot,  George,  431. 
Eliot,  President,  149. 
Emmons,  Dr.,  165,  404. 

'E~l<TK01T0^,    55. 

'Evayye?<.t(7Ti^C,  46. 
Eusebius,  47. 
Excommunication,  524. 

F. 

Faith,  courageous,  400. 


IXDEX. 


581 


Family,  the  pastor  in  the,  1S7. 
Fenelon,  136,  199,  436. 
Foreign    missions,    principles    of, 
548. 

methods  of,  554. 

not  an  experiment,  573. 

pastor's  responsibility,  576. 
Foster,  John,  565. 
Fuller,  Andrew,  95. 
Fuller,  Thomas,  iSo. 

O. 

Gentleman,  the,  qualities  of,  196. 
Gieseler,  "  History  of  the  Church," 

515- 
"  Good    Shepherd,"    the,    in   early 

Christian  art,  50. 
Gravity,  179. 
Cireek,  the  study  of,  161. 
(ireen,    "  History    of    the   English 

People,"  80,  109. 
Gregorj'  Nazianzen,  127. 
Gregory,      Pope,     "  Libe7-    Regulee 

Pastoralis,"  12. 

II. 

Hagenbach,  "  Grundlinien  der  Li- 
turgik  und  Homiletik''  309, 

365-  375- 
Hall,  Robert,  120. 
Hamann,  J.  G.,  171. 
Hamilton,  Sir  William,  173. 
Hamlin,  Dr.  Cyrus,  559. 
Harms,  Pastor,  67,  217. 
Hase,  "  Hist,  of  Chr.  Church,"  56. 
Heathen,  condition  of  the,  565. 
Hebrew,  study  of,  159. 
'Helvetic  confession,"  the,  374. 
Herbert,  George,  8,  75,  134,  396. 
Herder,  21. 
Hildebrand,  63. 
Holy  Spirit,  source  of  power  in  the 

pastoral  work,  401. 
primary  cause  of  conversion, 

453- 


presence  of,  in  revivals  of  re- 
ligion, 4S6. 

Home  evangelization,  542,  et  seq. 

Honor,  high  sense  of  in  the  minis- 
ter, 213. 

Hopefulness,  322. 

Hopkins,  Dr.  Samuel,  164. 

Hospitality,  191. 

Humility,  184. 

Humor,  180,  322. 

Hyacinthe,  Pfere,  278. 

Hymnology,  311. 

I. 

Impenitent,  the,  438. 
Infant  baptism,  356. 
"Inner  Mission,"  the,  54.3. 
Inquirer,  the,  445,  et  seq. 

difficulties  of,  450. 

conversing  with,  470. 
Institutions,  founded  in  nature,  15. 
Intellectual  culture,  146. 
Interpreter,  the  minister  an,  142. 
Irving,  Edward,  539. 

J. 

Jerome,  56. 

John,  the  apostle's  Christology,  29. 

Johnson,  Dr.,  167. 

Joubert,  427,  435,  460. 

Judas  Iscariot,  29. 

Justin  Martyr,  272. 

K. 

Keble,  308,  313. 

Kingsley,  Charles,  172,  201,  324. 

Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  575. 

Lange,  54. 

Lay-preaching.  109. 

Lechler,  27. 

Leighton,  Abp.,  143,  394,  401. 

Liturgies,  232. 

Liturgical  principles,  234. 

education  of  pastor  in,  246. 
Lord's  day,  the,  24S,  et  seq. 


582 


IXDEX. 


Lord's  supper,  the,  364,  el  seq. 

historical  relation  to  passover, 

365- 

institution  of,  370. 

primary  object,  371. 

collateral  object,  372. 

general  aspect,  372. 

pastor's  responsibility,  377. 

mode  of  administering,  379. 
Love,  power  of,  334,  398,  400. 
Loyola,  Ignatius,  137. 
Luther,  11,  84,  397,  401. 

M. 

Macaulay,  167. 

McCheyne,  400. 

McLeod,  Norman,  407, 

Manners,  ministerial,  200. 

Manning,  Cardinal,  569. 

"  Manse  of  Mastland,"  108,  412, 
419. 

Marriage  service,  382. 

Massillon,  11,  512. 

Mather,  Cotton,  10,  244. 

Maurice,  Frederic  Denison,  324, 
325.  336,  346.  366. 

Meditation,  131,  et  seq. 

Melanchthon,  175. 

Mellor,  Dr.,  "Priesthood  in  the 
Light  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment," 65. 

Mendelssohn,  307,  319. 

Metaphysics,  study  of,  163. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  555. 

Milton,  106. 

Miraculous  gifts,  39. 

Missionary  work,  qualifications  for 
the,  563. 

Missions,  542,  et  seq. 

Modern  missions,  550. 

Monasticism,  133. 

Moody,  D.  L.,  no. 

Moral  culture,  175. 

Morality,  high  standard  of,  213, 
219. 


fruit  of- new  religious  life,  511. 
Mosaic  law,  the,  257. 
Mosheim,  25,  273.  284. 
Mliller,  Max,  Prof.,  547,   570,  573, 

575. 
Mullois,  I'Abbe,  11. 

Nature,  pastoral  office  founded  in, 

13- 
love  of,  207. 
Neander,   11,  21,  35,  40,  46,  53,  56, 

76,  78,  104,  250. 
"New    Hermannsburg   Mission," 

the,  553. 
Newman,  Cardinal,  32,  436. 
Nitzsch,  294,  295,  371,  375. 

O. 

Order  in  worship,  236. 
Ordination,  loi,  et  seq. 
Olshausen,  41,  43. 
Origen,  362. 

Otto,    Dr.    Wilhelm,    "■' Ev.   Prak. 
Theologie,"  II. 

P. 

Palmer,      C,      "  Hatidbuck     Fas. 

TheoL,"  II. 
Park,    Prof.   Edwards  A.,  11,  165, 

397- 
Pastor,  the,  above  all  a  preacher, 
14. 

authority  of,  51,  529. 

model  of,  74. 

spiritual  qualifications  of,  126. 

power  conditioned  on  faith, 
128. 

intellectual  culture  of,  146. 

moral  culture  of,  175. 

domestic  relations,  187. 

public  relations,  217. 

responsibility  in  relation  to 
Chr.  Sabbath,  274  ;  to  church 
music,  306  ;  to  public  wor- 
ship  and   prayer,  224,   347  ; 


INDEX. 


5S: 


to  the  children,  356,  533  ;  to 
missionary  effort,  576. 
Pastoral  labors,  benefit  of,  389. 
Pastoral  office,  founded  in  nature, 
13,  et  seq. 
divine  institution  of,  23,  et  secj. 
ideas  of,  62. 
Pastoral  theology,  place  and  liter- 
ature of,  I,  et  seq. 
an  art  rather  than  a  science,  3. 
in  a  scheme  of  theological  edu- 
cation, 4. 
definition  of,  13. 
plan  of,  13. 
Pastoral  visiting,  402. 
true  design  of,  403. 
uses  of,  405. 
"  Pastors  and  teachers,"  49. 
Paul,  the  apostle,  196. 

model  of  the  missionary,  563. 
Pathos,  79. 
Peaceableness,  212. 
Personal  influence,  397. 
Philological  studies,  159. 
Tloi/iTjv,  50. 
Poimenics,  528. 
Poor,  care  of  the,  541. 
Popularity,  202. 
Power,  love  of,  117. 
Prayer,  secret,  140,  et  seq. 
public,  302. 
of  the  wicked,  456. 
Prayer-meeting,  conducting  a,  344. 
Preacher,    not   opposed  to  pastor, 

14. 
Preaching,  an  element  of  worship, 
227. 
spiritual  element  in,  321, 
hopeful  tone  of,  322. 
maintaining   its    true    design, 

327- 
its  earnest  purpose,  329. 
upon    the    doctrine   of   future 

punishment,   330. 
its  root  or  basis  in  love,  334. 


definite  object  in,  338. 

extempore,  343. 
YlpeafivTepoi,  53. 
Pressens^,  E.  de,  33,  56,  226,  231, 

248,  305- 
Priesthood,  the  Christian  ministry 

not  a,  65. 
UpocjiTjTric,  36. 
Prudence,  182. 
Public  opinion,  220. 

Qualifications  for  the  care  of  souls, 
387,   et  seq. 

R. 

Ravignan,  de,  100. 

Reform,   the  pastor's   interest   in, 

2ig. 
Reinhard,  "  Letters  upon  the  Life 

of  the  Preacher,"  11. 
Repentance,  461. 
Representation,     principle     of     in 

worship,  225. 
Reverence,  247. 

Revivals  of  religion,  445, 480,  et  seq. 
Robertson,  F.  W.,  11,  67,  Si,  168, 

275,  282,  324,  333. 
Robinson,  John,   525. 
Ruskin,  197. 

S. 
Sabbath,  the,  four  main  theories  of, 
249. 
history  of,  253. 

worship,  the  foundation  prin- 
ciple of,  258. 
the  Puritan,  273. 
of  the  future,  281. 
Sacerdotal  class  of  pagan  religions, 

18. 
Sanctuary,  worship  of  the,  283. 
Savonarola,  178. 
Self-denial,  spirit  of  in  the  pastor, 

177. 
sign  of  conversion,  472. 


584 


INDEX. 


Self-knowledge,  395. 
Schaff,  Dr.,  45. 
Scientific  doubt,  325,  439. 
Schleiermacher,  "  Fraktische  Theo- 

logie,"  II. 
large  charity  of,  296. 
Shedd,  Dr.  W.  G.,  10. 
Sick,  visiting  the,  420. 
Sin,  nature  of,  444. 
Smith,  Sydney,  181,  219. 
Snider,  "Walk  in  Hellas,"  375. 
Social  principle,  cultivation  of  the, 

208. 
Society,  the   pastor's   relations  to, 

194,  219. 
Sorrow,  uses  of,  430. 
Souls,  the  care  of,  387. 

love  of,  398. 
South,  Dr.,  239, 

Spencer's  "  Pastor's  sketches,"  10. 
Spirit,    beneath    form    in    worship, 

235- 
Spiritual     element    in     preaching, 

321. 
Strauss,  "  Glockenione,"  11. 
Study,  method  of,  164. 
Style,  162. 

Sunday-schools,  534. 
Sympathy,  78,  430. 
System,  in  study,  169. 

in  pastoral  work,  396. 

T. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  131,  429,  434. 

"  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apos- 
tles," 380.  530. 

Tertullian,  206,  304. 

Theology,  study  of,  156,  157. 

Thoreau,  172.' 

Tocqueville,  de,  188. 

Tongues,  gifi  of,  43. 

Trials  and  rewards  of  the  pastor, 
no,  el  seq. 

Truth,  the  Spirit's  employment  of 
the,  490. 


Truthfulness,  in  the  minister,  212. 
Tyng,  Dr.,  534. 

IT. 
Unbelief,  438,  450. 
Upham,  Prof.,  136,  444,  524. 
Unity  of  the  church,  515. 
Unity  of  the  spirit  in  prayer,  346. 

V. 

Van  der  Palm,  409. 

Van  Oosterzee,  233,  306. 

Very,  Jones,  184,  205. 

Vincent  de  Paul,  St.,  79. 

Vinet,  Alexandre,  "Pastoral  Theol- 
<5gy»"  7.  quoted,  13,  21,  54, 
57,  60,  61,63,  64,  72,  74,  77, 
80,    86,    III,    114,  142,   185, 

238,  305,  393- 
Visiting,  pastoral,  402. 

W. 

Wayland,  Dr.,  11,  411. 
Wesley,  John,  86,  108,  153. 
Whately,  Abp.,  18,  32,  57,  251. 
Wheeler,   C.    H.,    "Ten  Years  on 

the  Euphrates,"  562. 
Wichern,  Johann  Heinrich,  544. 
Wife,  the  pastor's,  188. 
Willis,  R.,   "Church  Music,"  310, 

312. 
Woolsey,  President,  197. 
Word,  ministry  of  the,  72. 
Wordsworth,  quoted,  207. 
Worship,     public,    necessity     and 
nature  of,  225. 

form  of,  229. 

to  increase  the  life  of,  241. 

X. 

Xavier,  St.  Francis,  43. 
Xenophanes,  maintained  the  truth 
of  one  God,  570. 


Z. 


Zwingli,  374. 


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